Aiming Higher
by DrunkOnJerichohol
Summary: Through a chance encounter in a Winnipeg coffee shop, an unbreakable bond was formed. After their dream wedding, Chris and Stephanie lose themselves in the married life, dodging curve balls and surviving falls together. Every life has it lows, but it has even better highs, and the highs are what they live for. (Sequel to Flying High)
1. The Digital Read-out

******Disclaimer**: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. Any and all original characters and plot are the property of the author of this story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended.

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A/N: Hey, everyone! If you have stumbled across this story without reading _Flying High_, you're going to want to go back and check that out first, because this is the sequel. For those of you who stuck with _Flying High_ all the way through, I want to thank you for following it here and continuing on with this story. It means a lot that you like the things that I'm writing, and I hope you like what I came up with for this first chapter. Thanks, and let me know how you think it turned out!

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Stephanie didn't have time to play around with plus signs or random lines. She wanted to make life easier on herself, so she chose the carton enclosing a test with a digital readout. She caught sight of her reflection in a small mirror near the pharmacy area and nearly guffawed. She had gone incognito in the store, using dark sunglasses and a hat to hide her appearance, but, if anything, she was drawing more attention to herself by looking so...undercover, for lack of a better term.

Were she a regular woman with a 9-to-5 job, she wouldn't have taken any umbrage with entering a local drugstore to purchase such private items, but she was a semi-public figure, which meant she had to keep things quiet. Her husband was a wrestling fan and an avid reader of the online newsletters. If a fan were to spy her in the midst of making her purchase and report the news to their online sources, they would have a field day with it. If Chris was going to find out she was possibly with child, he wasn't going to get that information from a seedy internet fan.

Stephanie simply wouldn't allow it.

With it being so late in the afternoon, most people were enduring the busy drive home in rush hour traffic, which made for an uncrowded store. Stephanie silently thanked the angel watching over her, because there had to be some serious string-pulling in the works to make her surroundings shift so greatly in her favor. Of the few customers dawdling around, most were scouring the aisles for the items they needed and were too busy to be concerned with Stephanie's purchases, but she did notice a few odd looks from other patrons. Of course, her perception of those looks could have been her active imagination playing tricks on her. She was, after all, quite anxious.

Stephanie went through the line of the only cashier working at the front of the store, speeding right out of the building and climbing back into her car. Her keys jingled as she attempted to start the car up, and she glanced at the front passenger seat and the plastic bag that remained slumped there, precisely where she had tossed it upon entry. She sighed, blowing a few tendrils of hair away from her face, and turned the key in the ignition so she could make the short trip to Graham's elementary school. Chris was working late that evening and had basically been on the same extended work schedule for months, ever since he got bumped up to Assistant Creative Writer during the summer.

The position was a dream come true for him, but it also required much more of his time and attention to detail, which meant working longer hours. Vince was essentially grooming Chris to be his right-hand man, from what Stephanie inferred, and he was also beginning to scale back her hours in the office, just as she had requested. With Chris gone more often, she wanted to make sure she could be off of work in time to pick Graham up from football practice, so they could have dinner together each night and she could help him with his homework. If it turned out another little one would be added to the mix, she would have even more reason to be at home earlier in the afternoon, so she could be an active mother for each of her children.

Approximately 12 minutes of driving passed before Stephanie pulled her vehicle into the Covington Elementary School parking lot, and she easily found an empty spot and parked. She no longer got out of the car upon her arrival, the way she and Chris used to, mostly because Graham was passing through a phase in which he felt the need to prove to her and Chris that he could take care of himself. Only a few months past his ninth birthday, he was spending his days as a fifth-grader well, showing his parents that he was capable of earning more independence from them. Stephanie leaned back against the headrest and closed her eyes, placing her hand on her stomach.

She lost all track of time, until a low, rapping sound vibrated against the back passenger window. She had forgotten to watch for Graham. Her eyes snapped open, and she smiled when she saw him standing there, with his football bag slung over his right shoulder. She scrambled to press the unlock button, and he opened the door, tossing his backpack and football bag inside, then climbing into his seat. "Hi, Mommy."

"Hey there, sweetie, I missed you," Stephanie greeted. She glanced into the backseat and pulled her sunglasses off so he could send him a pointed stare. "What have I told you a million times, little one?"

"To buckle my seatbelt," Graham mumbled. He stuck his tongue out when he thought she wasn't looking.

"I saw that," she said. Stephanie smiled, waiting to hear the click from his belt so she could be assured he had secured the strap. When it was locked in place, she backed the car up, and they began the usual drive home, sans Chris. "Daddy's going to be a little late coming home again, as usual."

"I'm hungry. What are we having for dinner?" Graham wondered. Along with another year of life came a larger appetite, and Stephanie had expressed her shock on more than one occasion at how quickly Graham was growing. She hadn't expected the growth spurts to come on so soon, but they were arriving in waves.

"Sara's making us lamb chops, mashed sweet potatoes, mixed vegetables, and homemade bread. I was home for a little while after I left work, and it smelled really good, so I'm sure you'll like it," Stephanie anticipated. She flicked on her left turn signal as she merged into the left turn lane and waited behind two cars stopped at the red light. "You've have lamb chops before, though, so this is old news to you."

"Yep, old news," Graham said. His words came out so flippantly that they brought a smile to her face. "What did you do today?"

"Well, let's see, I went to work this morning and gave a few presentations, with regard to our pay-per-view buy rates and merchandise sales, which really isn't my forte, but Papa Vince is making me take on different things and branch out a bit," Stephanie began. She continued relaying the events of her day, in as much of a simplified version as possible. "Then, I took a lunch break with Daddy, which was really nice. After that, I went back to work for a few hours, then went home, then made a quick trip to the store and came to pick you up right after."

"Did you get something good from the store?"

"Nothing edible, if that's what you're thinking," she laughed. "Just something for me."

"Oh," Graham said.

He quieted down for a few minutes and Stephanie used that opportunity to flip through the radio stations and see if anything good was playing. She had recently discovered an oldies station, which just so happened to be playing a Temptations song. She sang lowly along with the tune, which prompted Graham to join in, and before she knew it, they were engaged in a full-fledged duet. They were on a roll, but then Stephanie's cell phone cut into their concert, and she picked her phone up, thinking Chris might be trying to reach her.

When she got stopped by another influx of traffic, she used the opportunity to check her new picture message and gasped, bringing her left hand to her chest. "Oh, goodness, she's so big!"

"Who is?"

"Amanda just sent me a new picture of herself and Caylie. They look so beautiful," Stephanie complimented.

It had been nearly six months since Amanda had made her move to Montana in March, and although her heart had been broken at first, Stephanie was finding it easier to cope with each passing day, and especially when she had visual evidence of how well the girls were doing. Caylie's father had moved along with Amanda as promised, and thus far, Amanda had only positive things to say about the effort he was putting in to set their family life on track. He had transformed from the immature teenage boy who had initially shied away from parenthood, and Stephanie thanked her lucky stars for that. She had sent out lots of silent prayers and warm wishes for Amanda and Caylie, and to see that those wishes had been honored filled her heart with joy.

"Here, love," she said, handing her phone off to Graham. "Take a look at the picture so you can see how big Caylie is now. It's so exciting to see her."

"Whoa, she's really big!" Graham's jaw dropped when he saw the picture, making Stephanie laugh as she watched him in the rearview mirror.

"I told you."

"She's like three times bigger. That's weird."

"That's what happens, though. Babies grow up so fast you don't even know what to do with yourself," Stephanie said. She checked on Graham again, but he was still staring down at the picture on her phone. "Even with you, you're starting to grow so fast, and you're wanting your own independence, which is a big change from how you were last year. You spend time at your friends' houses now, and remember how you were always too afraid to do that last year?"

"Yeah," Graham said, laughing at himself a little. "That's because I was a big baby."

"Aww, I don't think you were acting like a baby. I think this environment was just new to you, and it made you nervous to be away from me or Daddy, but you're different now, so that's good. It makes us very happy when we see you having fun with your friends or staying after school for football practice. I can't even begin to tell you how proud we are that you've stuck with this football thing. You've been playing since last year, and you haven't given up once. It's very rare for boys as young as you to be structured enough to make genuine commitments, but you've done that, and that's a big deal," Stephanie said. "A very big deal."

"Daddy taught me not to give up, and so did you. That's why I won't quit football, because I like it and I'm good at it, but also because I don't want to be a quitter. If you quit something, then that's bad," Graham rambled on. Sometimes, Stephanie lost herself in conversation with Graham and began thinking of him as a much older child than he was, but then he would begin his classic rambling, and she would be shocked back into reality and reminded that she was speaking to a 9-year-old boy. "Can I look at the other pictures on your phone?"

"You sure can."

When they arrived home, a powerful burst of mouthwatering scents hit Graham's nostrils as he marched in the door. Sara had put the finishing touches on dinner and was in the middle of preparing a large plate of food for Chris, which she did at the beginning of every meal, to make sure they wouldn't run out of food before they had a chance to set some aside for him. Graham wandered over to the stove, and his eyes widened longingly. "Yum, this is gonna be good."

"I sure hope you enjoy it," Sara said, patting the top of his head sweetly.

"I will," Graham said. He reached for a clean plate, but Stephanie caught him in time, placing her hand on his wrist.

"You know better than that. You need to bring your backpack and football bag upstairs to your room. Wash your hands while you're up there, then you can come down and grab a plate of food," Stephanie said. Her rules weren't only limited to Graham, of course, so she headed out of the kitchen to bring her purse into her bedroom and wash her own hands.

"Aw man," Graham grumbled, from directly behind her. "I already washed my hands at school, because I used the bathroom after football practice. They're clean," he said, holding them up for inspection.

Stephanie stopped short of leaving the kitchen and turned to him. "Please do what you're told, Graham. We go through this same conversation almost every day, and it would be nice if you would stop fighting me on it. I don't make you wash your hands because you hate it. I make you wash them because if you eat with germs on your hands, you're going to get sick."

"Fine," he relented, following behind her. Sara watched them go with a smile, returning to her food duties when they drifted out of sight.

Stephanie separated from Graham at the top of the stairs, slipping into her bedroom and closing the door. After ensuring she had engaged the lock, to prevent any embarrassing interruptions, Stephanie slipped the plastic bag off of her wrist and pulled out a single box. She rolled her eyes when she noticed that the box was covered in obnoxious, plastic packaging, and she used her teeth to bite the film off at the edges, which made the rest of it easy to peel. When the plastic wand was in her hand, she distracted herself from the enormity of the moment by skimming the brief instruction manual.

A simple 'Pregnant' or 'Not Pregnant' would appear on the tiny, digital display after three minutes of waiting time. Stephanie steeled herself for what she was about to do, even going so far as to return to her bedroom door and check the lock again. She couldn't have Chris coming home early and walking in on her unexpectedly. When she was certain she could continue alone, Stephanie snatched the box off the bed, jumping in surprise when an additional testing wand fell out. She hadn't realized there were two in a single box, but that made her feel more secure, because she would be able to test a second time to confirm the result.

On an odd note, Stephanie hadn't been ill at all, in recent times. Most first-time mothers only expected that they might be carrying a child when they came down with flu-like symptoms or persistent and excessive heartburn, but Stephanie broke the mold, in that sense. She hadn't exhibited any classic pregnancy symptoms, but she felt a shift in her body, an intangible difference that she couldn't even begin to explain to someone else. Her motherly instinct, which she hadn't even known she possessed, was urging her to take a test, so she listened to her body, because it had never failed her before.

After a deep inhale, she stepped into the bathroom and closed the door.

"Honey, I'm home!" Chris called out later that evening, as he entered through the front door. He used the same humorous greeting every night, and somehow, it still managed to never grow old. He set his briefcase beside the couch and peeled off his restrictive suit jacket.

"In the kitchen, sweetie!" Stephanie called back. Obeying the golden rule Stephanie had set for them all, Chris went into the half-bathroom, which was located right off the side of the main staircase, and he washed his hands thoroughly before even bothering to enter the kitchen.

"Hi, gorgeous," he said. Chris strolled to the dining room table and hunched over, pressing his lips to Stephanie's. Graham sat beside her, and Chris leaned over Stephanie to get to him, kissing the top of his head. "Hi, kiddo. I missed the hell out of you two today."

"I missed you, too, Daddy," Graham replied. "And I missed Mommy when I was at school and she was at work."

"How could you _not_ miss me?" Stephanie smirked. She took Graham's face in her hands and kissed his cheeks. "I slipped two of my famous chocolate chip cookies into your lunch today so you would have something to remember me by. Did you notice them?"

"Yep, and I was real happy. My friend tried to get some from me, but I only gave him a little piece, because I wanted to eat them," Graham admitted.

"I'll have to give you a couple of extra ones next time, so you can keep two for yourself and give two to Nathan," Stephanie said. Graham smiled and nodded to indicate that he liked the idea, and she kissed his nose and tapped the packet in front of him. "All right, we had a little break, but let's get back to your math homework. Keep going through the problems like you already were and let me know if you get stuck on one. You're doing really well."

"Okay," Graham said, furrowing his brow in determination as he got back to work. Stephanie patted his leg and rose from her seat, giving Chris another peck on the lips.

"Have a seat and I'll heat up your food and get you a drink. The usual?" she asked.

"Yep, the usual is good. Thanks."

"Of course," Stephanie said.

She went to the refrigerator and pulled his plate out, ridding it of the saran wrap Sara had tucked over the top. Stephanie stuck it in the microwave and set the timer for one minute, returning to the refrigerator and pulling out a bottled water. She retrieved a drinking glass from the cabinet and filled it with ice cubes, dumping the water into the glass and placing it on the table for Chris. She attempted a return to the microwave to grab his plate, but Chris latched onto her wrist and yanked her into his lap without warning. She gasped, landing on him with a soft thud, and he wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"How _you_ doin', baby?"

"How _you_ doin'?" she returned. She cupped his cheeks and brushed her lips softly over his, nuzzling his nose, until the microwave began beeping to signify that the warming cycle had completed. Stephanie pushed herself out of Chris's lap and retrieved his meal, grabbing a clean fork from one of the pull-out drawers and placing it all down in front of him.

"Thanks."

"Not a problem. How was your day?" she asked, rounding the table to return to her seat beside Graham. "My dad wasn't going crazy, was he?"

"When is your dad _not _going crazy?" Chris asked, speaking around a bite of food. He picked up his knife and fork and sliced off another piece of lamb chop.

"Good point. You're still happy with the position, though, right?"

"Oh yeah," Chris nodded. "I love it. This is basically my dream career. I mean, don't get me wrong, because if I could have had a shot at being one of the actual WWE Superstars, then I would have done that in a heartbeat, but since I can't, working behind-the-scenes for your dad is the next best thing. It's awesome."

"I want to work for Papa Vince when I grow up," Graham said. Stephanie smiled at that, reaching over to brush his hair back.

"You can be whatever you want to be, Graham. I believe in you, and so does Daddy. Dream big and shoot for the stars," she told him.

"I will."

"Good, but first things first, which means finishing this math homework," she said, tapping the papers with her finger once again. Graham laughed at her expression of mock anger, and Chris laughed, too, shaking his head amusingly.

"Man, I love you guys," he snorted, taking a sip of his water. "You two are easily the best part of coming home from a hard day's work."

Only two hours after finishing his dinner, Chris tucked Graham into bed, and Stephanie was there to kiss his forehead and wish him a good night. She managed to sneak away stealthily and mighty fast, enough to make Chris suspect something amiss. Sometimes, she was simply impatient about getting alone time with him, so she would rush off to the bedroom to signal to him that he should follow as soon as he was able to. With Graham all set for sleep, Chris turned off his lamp, ending the night the same way he always did, by telling Graham he loved him.

Since Stephanie had fled Graham's room, leaving an air of urgency in her wake, Chris slipped into their bedroom, turning the light on to search for her. He didn't have to look far, since Stephanie was pacing the floor near her side of the bed, and she held something in her right hand, but it was just beyond Chris's line of vision. She looked apprehensive, but also on the verge of making a huge reveal, and she had awoken Chris's curious side. Something had certainly worked her up, and he wanted to know what it was. He _needed_ to know.

"Stop pacing and tell me what's wrong," Chris ordered. He didn't have time to play any guessing games, and he wasn't going to let Stephanie draw the situation out any further than she already had. Whatever was going on, he had a right to know, as her husband. "I can always tell when something is up with you, so just make it easier on both of us and come out with it."

"Okay, if that's what you really want," she said. "Take a peek at this."

Her smile started small, spreading gradually across her face, and she held up some sort of plastic stick. Chris squinted, and even with the distance between them, he recognized the gadget as a home pregnancy test. His stomach swirled with unnamed emotion, like a paintbrush being dragged over his insides, and he sat down heavily on the edge of their bed, covering his mouth as he struggled to contain himself. Stephanie's smile widened, and she nodded to let him know that what he was assuming was true, but Chris needed to hear it from her mouth before he could consider it a reality.

"Holy shit!" he exclaimed, though the words were muffled by his palm. He dropped his hand and spoke clearly. "Is that what I think it is? I know we stopped using protection, but it happened _this_ quickly?"

"Yes, sweetie. I'm pregnant."


	2. The Test

A/N: Thanks for sticking with me. Onto the next installment!

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"Graham, please don't throw your football around in the house," Stephanie said.

She reached for a hair claw on the side table and twisted her hair up, clipping it into place. An unruly tendril slipped out of her messy hairdo and fell along the side of her face, and she blew impatiently at the offending lock, wanting it out of her way. She had spent almost her entire Saturday working from home, which was basically par for the course with her level of responsibility in the company, but all she wanted was a quiet evening with her family, to cap off the night. As it stood, Chris was actively working on dinner in the kitchen, having given Sara the weekend off so he could cook the meals for a change.

As their chef, Sara did so much for them during the week that Chris had wanted to take over and create his own special dinner for Graham, Stephanie, and, consequently, their unborn child. Stephanie closed the laptop computer she had spent most of the day working on and slid it onto the coffee table for safekeeping, until she could work up enough energy to bring it back upstairs to her bedroom. That probably wouldn't happen until she got some real food in her system, since she had sustained most of her hunger on small snacks throughout the day. She settled back on the couch and picked up the television remote, preparing to check her recorded programs for the week, but her quest was interrupted by the smack of a football hitting the far wall.

Graham came tearing in from the next room and snatched his ball, executing his own commentary about the play while running through it. Stephanie cleared her throat pointedly, and when Graham glanced over, she folded her arms across her midsection. "Please don't play with the ball in here, sweetie. If you want to play football, I'll help you into your coat and and gloves, and you can play in the snow outside for a while, but not in here. You might break something or get hurt."

Without so much as acknowledging her instructions, Graham threw the ball back the opposite way, and Stephanie had seen enough. She tossed the remote onto the couch, intending to catch Graham, but the second he saw her coming, he turned it into a game, forgetting all about his football and running into the next room. With hours of work behind her and hunger settling in the pit of her stomach like a mass of dead weight, there was a distinct limit to her patience, but she wanted to handle the situation in the proper manner. Nothing would be solved if she flew off the handle at Graham and went on a wild rant, nor would she forgive herself for behaving that way with her own son.

Stephanie didn't run, but she picked up her pace, tracking Graham as he galloped down the long hallway that led into the indoor conservatory. She cupped her mouth and called after him, "This isn't acceptable behavior, Graham. You need to stop where you are right now."

"You can't catch me," he retorted, sticking his tongue out and veering off at the end of the hallway.

A billiard-style room was the only space he could cut through, which had a side door that would lead him back around to the main staircase, so Stephanie thought ahead and backtracked, returning to the bottom of the stairs in the living room and waiting for him to appear. Sure enough, she heard the soles of his feet slapping against the floor as he followed the arc of the passageway around to the living room, and she reached out before he could dart away, capturing him in her awaiting clutches. All the humor subsided from his expression, and Graham began squirming in her arms, determined to slip away, but her grip proved too strong for a boy his size. He used the only weapon he had left: his vocal chords.

"Let go!" Graham shouted, battling against her, angry he had been outsmarted. "I'm gonna play football no matter what!"

Stephanie lowered to one knee, thinking that if she leveled with him, he might be reasonable. His forgotten football sat untouched on the floor, only a few yards away. "I don't appreciate the way you're treating me right now. I'm respectful to you all of the time, Graham. Why can't you do the same for me?"

"I'm just playin' football," he supplied, thrashing around to escape her grip.

"I understand that, but I asked you twice not to play in the house, and you did it anyway."

"I wanna get my football!" Graham exclaimed. His shrill tone alerted Chris that something was amiss, because he rushed in from the kitchen, wiping his hands dry on a paper towel. His attention fell to rest on Stephanie, holding Graham still as he struggled to get away, and his eyes narrowed in confusion.

"What's going on in here?" Chris questioned.

"Graham was playing with his football inside the house," Stephanie said, bucking her head in the direction of the discarded ball, "and I asked him to stop, because I didn't want him to have an accident and break something or hurt himself. I offered to help him into his coat so he could bring the football outside and play in the yard, but he kept throwing it across the room, then ran from me when I tried to stop him."

"Is that true, Graham?" Chris asked, coming up on Graham's side and dropping down on one knee, mirroring Stephanie's pose. "Did you do what Mommy is saying you did?"

"She won't let me play football ever, and that's not fair!" Graham said. Stephanie released her hold, since Chris was there to diffuse the situation, and Graham crossed his arms and pouted. "She never will let me play anything in here."

"That's not true," Stephanie told him calmly. "I want you to be happy and have fun all the time, but I've told you multiple times that you can't play football indoors. You're either going to hurt yourself or someone else, or you might break something."

"I asked you a question," Chris said, turning Graham to face him, even though Graham continued staring at the floor. "Look at me," Chris ordered. When Graham did as he was told, he began again. "Did you keep throwing the football after Mommy asked you to stop, and did you run from her?"

"Yeah," Graham admitted.

"That's not okay, and you owe her an apology. I didn't raise you to be disrespectful to the adults in your life, Graham," Chris said. "You're very lucky to have Mommy, and she's your parent now, just like I am; you know that. If she tells you not to do something, then you need to obey her, because if I ever find out that you're not listening to her or running away when she tries to stop you, you're going to be in big trouble. Each time you do it, you'll have to miss a football practice, and if you still can't behave, we'll take football away entirely, until you learn how to act. Now you look at Mommy and apologize for what you just did."

"Sorry, Mommy," Graham said, falling against her for a hug. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, and she did the same to him, rubbing his back.

"Tell her why you're sorry, Graham," Chris instructed.

Graham pulled away slightly, to look Stephanie in the eye. "I'm sorry because I didn't listen to you and because I ran away from you."

"Thank you for your apology. I accept it," she said, kissing his cheek. "Why don't you go grab your football and bring it back upstairs to your room, where it belongs? Check on Freddy while you're up there."

"Okay," he said. Graham dragged his feet the slightest bit, and when he retrieved the football and carried it up the stairs, Chris shook his head and smiled, standing up.

"I'm sorry, baby," Chris apologized. He pressed his lips to hers for a few brief seconds. "I'm sure you're tired and didn't want to have to deal with discipline at the end of a long day. He's a good kid, which I'm sure you already know, but he also has moments when you just want to lock him in his bedroom for the entire day. You okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine. It wasn't a huge deal, but I've been letting a lot of things he does slide, and I was worried that if I let this slide, too, he would start to think of me as a pushover. I was doing a lot of thinking about Graham the other day, actually," she said. Chris took her hand, leading her into the kitchen so he could check on the food, and Stephanie leaned up against the counter while she watched him work.

"What kind of thinking?"

He caught a funny, almost self-conscious sort of smile flitting across her face. She hugged her arms to her body. "I think our little boy is testing me."

"Testing you?" Chris asked, raising an eyebrow.

"If you think about it, I never had to even consider disciplining Graham when you and I were only dating. He was always on his best behavior around me, and the only time he would really act out was when he was with you, so I never had to deal with correcting him," she explained. "Now that I've married you and become his stepmother, it seems like he wants to find out how far he can push me. Like just now, for instance, I saw a little spark of humor in his eyes when he was running from me. He was smirking and sticking his tongue out, telling me I couldn't catch him. It didn't seem so much to be a genuine act of defiance as it was a test of my boundaries. I think he just wanted to see whether I would follow through with punishment or let him get away with it."

"That actually makes a whole lot of sense."

"It's been on my mind for the past week or two," Stephanie admitted. "Graham is a very smart child, and he recognizes me as his mother now, but I'm sure he has questions about whether or not that changes our relationship in certain ways. He wants to know whether he can get away with things when he's around me that he might not normally get away with when he's with you. Graham's super intelligent, and he knows exactly what he's doing right now. I know that he knows."

"We'll have to keep him in line, then," Chris said, stirring the spaghetti sauce as it simmered over low heat. "But I also hope you know that he wanted, more than anything, for you to be his mom. I know he loves you."

"Oh, I don't doubt that he loves me at all, and I love him, too. He's my little boy no matter what; I don't care that I didn't give birth to him. I don't mean that in a disrespectful way toward Carly at all, so I hope I'm not coming off that way," she clarified. "It's just that I can't stand it when people overemphasize the importance of giving birth to a child. I don't need for Graham to be related to me by blood to love him with all of my heart and want the best for him in life. He's become like my own, and all I want are good things for him, but if I have to come down a little hard on him at times, I'll do it, because it's for his own good."

"I know that, and he knows that, too," Chris said. He tapped the fork on the edge of the pot to get the excess sauce off. After placing the spoon down, he peeked in at the cheesy garlic bread in the oven, using the potholders to take the bread out and place the pan on top of the stove. "The noodles are done, the bread's done, and the sauce looks like it's finally coming around. You can sit if you want to, and I'll start making the plates."

"Okay," Stephanie agreed. She started to walk away, but Chris unexpectedly caught her from behind, rubbing his palm flat over her belly. She smiled softly and placed her hand over the top of his.

"How's my baby doing in there?" he whispered in her ear.

"They're still too little for me to really feel anything yet, but I think they're just fine," she said, smiling into their embrace and closing her eyes. Chris kissed her hair, and she cuddled even closer to him. "I know we agreed to wait until I'm past the first trimester to share the big news, but this is killing me. I want to call my parents and your parents and tell them everything, but we have to keep this major thing a secret, and it's driving me nuts. I also can't wait to see the look on Graham's face when he finds out he's going to be a big brother. He'll be the sweetest, most protective brother around."

"I think so, too. Especially if he has a little sister."

"What do you want to have?"

"Doesn't matter. My biggest concern is that the baby is healthy, and anything else is just extra," Chris replied. "I honestly don't care whether it's a boy or a girl. There are plus sides to both, and I'll be happy either way. I'm the most excited to just watch you grow and to see you getting bigger. Knowing our baby is growing inside of you is all I even care to pay attention to, so the gender aspect doesn't even phase me. We have so much to look forward to."

"We sure do," Stephanie said. "Life is changing, but only in the best ways."

She reached up blindly to pat his cheek, and Chris kissed her hand, leading her to the dining room table and pulling out her chair. After their wedding, Stephanie had finally decided to relinquish her spot at the head of the table, handing it off to Chris a mere day after their arrival back home from the honeymoon. She took her seat and looked around, thinking back to the days when she, Chris, and Graham had been able to spend time with Amanda and Caylie every day at dinnertime. Her eyes flitted to Amanda's old chair, then across the kitchen to the high chair Caylie used to sit in.

She sighed, placing her chin in her hand and staring wistfully into the distance while Chris made her a plate of hot food. Graham peeked into the kitchen from around the corner, gauging whether or not his parents were angry with him for the hijinks he had put them through earlier. He spied Chris with his back turned near the stove, and Stephanie was spaced out at the dining room table, so he sidled up to her, tapping her on the shoulder. She jumped, surprised that someone had gotten so close without her having noticed, but she smiled when she saw it was Graham.

He held a folded piece of white construction paper, thrusting it out to her. "I made this for you."

"You did?" she asked. He nodded, and she accepted his gift. "Let me take a look at it. I can't wait to see what you came up with."

Stephanie unfolded the paper and smiled at the welcoming sight spread out before her. Graham had drawn a picture of her, using the assistance of crayons and colored pencils. In the picture, Stephanie stood outside in the grass on a sunny day, and she was holding her purse in one hand and flashing her wedding ring with the other hand. Graham had drawn the diamond exaggeratedly large, which only made her smile widen, because there was something special about seeing herself through the eyes of a child. He had drawn her wearing a long, flowing dress, which was atypical of what she normally wore, but she loved it all the same.

A flock of birds flew over her head, and when her eyes reached the bottom of the page, she noticed that he had captioned the picture. In small print, he had written his name to identify himself as the artist, but across from that, he had named the picture 'My Mommy.' Stephanie covered her mouth in an attempt to keep her emotions in check, because it wouldn't take long at all for her love to come pouring out in the form of tears. She managed not to cry happy tears, however, because she didn't want to freak Graham out, but that didn't stop her from pulling him into her arms and holding on for dear life.

"It's absolutely beautiful, sweetie. I love it so, _so_ much," she said, kissing the top of his head. By that point, Chris had come to set her plate down, and he smiled when he saw her sharing a moment with Graham, still grasping the picture in her hand. She pulled away to kiss his cheek, and Graham was positively beaming. In a sense, she knew drawing the picture was his unique little way of making up with her, after the way he had behaved earlier. "You must have worked so hard on this. Can I hang it on the wall in my office upstairs?"

"Yep, you can. Do you like it?" Graham asked. Stephanie had made it clear she loved it, but Graham needed that extra bit of positive reinforcement.

"I love it more than I can say," Stephanie confirmed. "Thank you for being so sweet and making this for me. It means so much."

He leaned in close and cupped his hands around her ear. "I'm sorry for what I did, Mommy. You're the best mommy ever, and I won't be bad again."

"Oh, sweetheart," she pouted, bringing her hand to her chest, "this is almost too much sweetness for my heart to take in one sitting. I know that you're sorry, and it's okay. We'll just have to try to do better next time, won't we?" she asked. Graham nodded, and she brushed her hand over his hair. "Thank you so much for this beautiful picture."

"You're welcome."

"Go have a seat in your chair and Daddy will bring you a plate of food, okay?"

"M'kay," Graham said. He scuttled away from her and rounded the table. His eyes widened to comical levels when Chris put a fresh plate of spaghetti in front of him, and Stephanie laughed at his expression. "I love spaghetti."

"I can tell," she said. "Graham, while we're sitting here together, I need to ask something of you."

"Like what?" he wondered.

"In the next few months, Daddy and I are going to need your help. We need for you to be a big boy, because we're going to start giving you more responsibilities around the house. There's something huge that's going to be coming up soon, and I think the transition will be easier if we start preparing now," Stephanie explained. "You're going to have a bigger role in this family, so be ready for that, okay?"

"Okay," he said. "Does that mean you and Daddy are gonna give me chores?"

"Sort of, but not quite. You'll understand a little better later on," she promised. Once they were fully served, Chris made himself a plate and brought it to his spot, taking a seat with his family. Stephanie's mind was still sidetracked on thoughts of the baby, and she continued on that path. "This talk probably doesn't mean much to you right this second, but it will very soon."

Chris took a bite of his pasta and wiped the excess sauce away from his mouth with a paper napkin, smiling at their exchange. Soon, their family of three was going to grow into a family of four, and his eyes drifted to the space where Caylie's high chair used to reside. He envisioned the chair back in its rightful spot, only the next time, it would be holding his own child. "Mommy speaks the truth, Graham. Soon enough, we're going to need you more than ever."

"I'll help, and I promise I'll be really good," Graham said. He swiped a drop of spaghetti sauce from the corner of his mouth, using the back of his hand, and gave a toothy grin. Despite his age, Chris was confident that Graham's promise rang true. Graham was more capable than any child he had ever seen of handling the changes involved in the arrival of a younger sibling. Chris had raised him well, and he chose that moment to let him know that.

"I know you will, kiddo. I believe in you."


	3. A Mile in Their Shoes

The best type of plans were those made in advance. With Stephanie in the early stages of her first trimester, a lot was uncertain about the baby, but a mother could never start planning too early. So she thought up a reasonable idea, running it by Chris to see if he agreed that they needed more family close by, to have extra sets of hands for when the baby was finally born. He had agreed with her, either because he didn't want to upset his wife or because he wanted the same ultimate outcome as her, but Stephanie liked to think it was the latter.

She placed her hand on Graham's shoulder and guided him to the solid oak door, allowing him to knock softly and ring the doorbell twice. Tara answered the door within seconds, wiping her hands on an apron, looking for all the world like a classic Susie Homemaker. Over time, and after making a stronger commitment to Chris, Stephanie had gotten over her stage of impetuous jealousy and was beginning to realize that Tara was just a normal wife and mother, much like her. She reached her hand out to shake Tara's, but Tara surprised her by stepping out onto the porch and giving her a full-blown hug.

Her nose crinkled, which was only a by-product of her lopsided smile, and she waved at Nathan when he came up behind his mother. He returned the gesture as Stephanie pulled out of the shared embrace, and Graham slipped inside the house, holding one of his new toy cars out for Nathan to see. "Look at this. My mom bought me this one yesterday."

"Cool!" Nathan squealed. He accepted the car from Graham and studied it from all angles. "You're lucky. We should go to my room so I can show you my new one. It's good, but not as good as this one."

They began to run off together, but before they could leave her eyesight, Stephanie snapped her fingers to beckon Graham back, which was her playful way of getting his attention. He jogged back to her and she ruffled his hair. "Either Daddy or I will be back for you this evening. Maybe even both of us. Grandpa and Amy will be at home by the time you come back, and we're going to have a big dinner together. Be good and obey Mrs. Barnes."

"Oh, he can call me Tara," she said, waving off Stephanie's reference to her. She much preferred answering to her first name, even if the person calling her by it was a child. It made her feel younger.

"Okay, well make sure to mind Tara, then," Stephanie corrected herself. She bent over and tapped her cheek, and Graham slipped his arms around her neck and gave her a big kiss where her finger had touched down. "Have a good time, sweetie, and you can always call home if you need anything."

"I will," he promised.

He left her with a final cheesy grin and dashed after Nathan. They disappeared around the corner, presumably to get to Nathan's bedroom and play with their toys, and Stephanie said her final goodbyes to Tara and returned to her vehicle. She was thankful to have Graham occupied for the bulk of that Saturday afternoon, because Chris would return home with Ted and Amy at any minute, and an important discussion was imminent. With a baby on the way, more assistance would be demanded around the house, and Stephanie wanted Chris's parents to be equally as close to the baby as she presumed her own parents would be.

She and Chris had spoken about either purchasing a home or having one built for their family — one that was much safer for a baby than the house they were currently living in. Each of them felt that, as a married couple, they should choose a home together, so it could be all their own. Stephanie's home was magnificent, but she had purchased it during a time when she was single and hadn't foreseen any children coming into the picture for a long while. Now that she had gotten married, welcomed Graham into her life, and would be bringing another child into the mix, she felt that it was the right time to pick out a home with her husband's help, which would be their first home chosen as a family.

Stephanie returned to an empty home about 15 minutes after leaving Graham, so she kicked off her shoes and went to the refrigerator to pour herself a glass of sweet tea. The ice cubes jangled in her cup with each footstep, and she padded back into the sitting room, finding her place on the couch and curling up with a throw blanket, to watch a movie. She had gotten no more than a few minutes into the film when a car pulled up in the driveway, accompanied by the sound of multiple doors shutting. A nervous pang shot through her stomach but she wished it into non-existence, waiting at the front door to greet their guests.

Ted took a dramatic pause on the porch as Chris came up on his other side. "Is it just me, or does your wife get even more beautiful each time I come to visit?"

"Stop it," Stephanie blushed, covering the left side of her face with her hand, to hide the color creeping into her cheeks. Ted hugged her in greeting, and Chris waited nearby, chuckling at her bashful cringe.

"She has a hard time taking compliments," Chris said, "but she's definitely getting more beautiful by the day. She's got that special glow about her."

Stephanie widened her eyes behind Ted's back to scold Chris, but his smirk told her that he knew exactly what he was doing and had no regrets. He found it humorous to drop hints about her pregnancy right in front of their parents, but the plan was still set to tell them all at once, so neither set of grandparents would find out before the other. It seemed the most fair way to conduct their personal business. Chris disappeared into the house with his dad, and Stephanie stayed behind to hug it out with Amy and welcome her back. They entered the sitting room with their arms curled around each other's shoulders.

"It's so nice to see you again, Amy," Stephanie said.

"You as well. Like I always say, we love coming up here to spend time with you two," Amy remarked. "This is a huge treat for us, not only to get away from home, but because we get to see you, Chris, and Graham. Where is he, by the way?"

"Actually, I just dropped him off at a friend's house," Stephanie answered. She closed the front door, joining Chris on the sofa. Ted and Amy took their seats at the other end of the couch, Ted slipping his arm around Amy's shoulders and kissing the top of her head. "He'll be back in a few hours, but Chris and I thought he should be out of the house so that we could have a talk with you. You know how we love discussing major life changes so much, right?"

"Yes, we most certainly have learned that about you," Ted laughed and clapped his hands together, rubbing his palms against one another, like he was ready for the challenge. "What surprises have you cooked up for us this time?"

"First of all, Chris and I are looking for a new home," she said. Her eyes happened to scan the coffee table, and only then did she realize she hadn't set out any refreshments. "Oh my goodness, I'm so rude. I didn't even think to offer either of you something to eat or drink," she told them, rising from the couch. "Can I get you anything?"

"Steph, it's okay. You sit and talk, and I'll go grab something for all of us. We have any more of that tea?" he asked, pointing to her glass, which she had left on the side table.

"Lots of it. It's in a big pitcher, so you can just fill some glasses and bring them in here on the serving tray," she said. Chris nodded and kissed her forehead, signaling for her to take a seat and continue speaking with Ted and Amy. There was so much to tell, and she felt a tad incomplete getting into all of it without Chris's help, but he would be back soon enough. "While he does that, I guess I can explain what else is going on with us. As I mentioned, we're looking for a new home. I love this house, and it will always hold a special place in my heart, because this was the first house I ever bought using all of my own money. I had paid rent for apartments and stuff, but this was my first actual house that I paid for in full."

"How long ago did you buy it?" Ted asked.

"In 2000, shortly after I had started on television," Stephanie said. "I had only been a recurring character on the show for about a year at the time, but I saved my money like crazy, and I got this place, thinking I would just live here forever."

"This is quite a place for only one person," Amy pointed out. "Did you ever get lonely or scared at night?"

"No," Stephanie smiled and shook her head, "not really. Of course, I never actually stayed here by myself. I pretty much always had someone living with me, because I would come across people who needed a place to stay, and I would offer up my home for a while, until they got back on their feet again. I guess I've always just felt like I have so many resources that I should share the wealth. If I see someone who needs a home or a car, whatever the reason, I feel a need to help."

"That can be a good thing, but it can also be a little tricky," Ted said. Stephanie and Amy turned to him, and he almost withered a little, self-conscious of their curious stares. "I just mean that if you invite the wrong person into your home, they can really take advantage."

"Been there and done that with Carter," Stephanie said. She cut her eyes at the thought of him, and Amy swatted Ted's thigh for inadvertently bringing up a topic that stirred bad memories inside of Stephanie. Even after all the time that had passed, her heart hadn't entirely recovered from his betrayal. A few seconds later, she came back around. "I think I feel for people on a much deeper level than the majority of people might. I don't think that makes me any better or worse than anyone else — just different. I've always been that way, and even my parents and Shane took notice of it. I've just always been super emotional, and I like to help people and make them feel good, so whenever someone takes my trust and tosses it back in my face, I have a hard time extending that trust again. If I were to see Carter again someday, I could forgive him for what he did, but I could never completely trust him. Trust means a lot to me."

"I hear you on that," Amy said. She reached over Ted's lap to pat Stephanie's leg. "You don't just go doling out trust. If people want it, they need to earn it, and you deserve better than some smarmy kid who was only hanging around to use you."

Chris slipped back into the room, raising an eyebrow when he overheard the tail-end of their discussion. "What are we talking about in here?"

"We got a little bit off track," Stephanie explained.

"Yeah, thanks to Ted here," Amy joked. She laughed and attempted to give his arm a playful swat, but he caught her hand and brought it to his mouth, pressing a kiss to her skin. Stephanie smiled warmly at the sight, thinking of all the times Chris had done the same to her. The Irvine men were charmers, if nothing else. If she and Chris had a son, she could only hope his personality would be shaped by Chris, because he was a wonderful example for any child, but especially for little boys. "We're sorry for taking the attention away from you guys. What is it that you were saying about a new home?"

Chris placed three glasses of tea down — one for him, one for his dad, and another for Amy — and he used the remaining liquid in the pitcher to refill Stephanie's glass. He also placed a fruit platter in the middle of the table, which was a work of art that Stephanie had requested for Sara to make, knowing they would have hungry guests in their home that day. When Chris took his seat, Stephanie gave him an appreciative kiss on the cheek and latched onto his hand. "Will you start, sweetie?"

"Sure," Chris said. Stephanie picked up her glass of tea and took small sips from it, while Chris took over the conversation. "So, Steph has had this house for years, as you probably already know. She picked it out on her own, when she was a lot younger and much more single," he laughed, holding up her left hand to flash her ring. Ted and Amy both cracked wide smiles at that. "Now that we're married and we have Graham, we feel like we want a cozier place that we can both pick out together. I wasn't anywhere around when Steph picked out this house, but now that we're a family, she wants me to have a hand in choosing where we live."

"That makes sense. It would be good for you two to have a place to call your own. This house is pretty much Stephanie's, so you want to buy a house that you would choose together, which is perfectly reasonable," Ted said. He paused to take a sip from his glass and placed it back down on the provided coaster. "Now, when would this place be going on the market?"

"It's not!" Stephanie rushed out, shrugging guiltily when all eyes went to her. Chris chuckled and gave her hand a squeeze.

"What she means to say is that she has an emotional attachment to this home. It was the first place she ever owned, and it can't be replaced, so she would either want to live here herself, or hand it off to someone she truly cares about," he said. Chris rubbed Stephanie's thigh and gave a slight tilt of the head to urge her on. "Why don't you tell them, babe? It's your offer, not mine, so you should be the one to say it."

"What is it?" Ted questioned. Stephanie saw the same look of dread on his face that she had noticed when she and Chris first told him they were thinking of getting married. He was preparing himself for bad news, but he would have to look elsewhere to find it, because her offer was one of the kindest acts anyone would ever extend to Ted.

"I wanted to run something by you," Stephanie said. Chris was watching her without blinking, and she reddened under his watchful gaze and dropped her head, staring directly into her lap. "My parents were thinking of purchasing this home and hiring someone for the upkeep. That way, our family would always have ownership of my first home, and I could always come to visit whenever I missed it or whatever. Basically, our goal is to keep it in the family, if that makes sense. I thought about it a little harder, and I realized that you and Amy are so far away right now. If we want to get to you for a visit, that's a four-hour drive, or a two-hour plane ride, and we want you closer. Graham needs you, and Chris and I want to see both of you a lot more, too. With all of that said, I want to offer you this home."

"Uh...what?" Ted asked. He scratched his head, stumped to his very core, and when Stephanie caught sight of his bewildered frown, there was nothing left except to fall victim to a torrent of laughter. She gathered herself a little while later and took a deep breath.

"I'm sure it's a shock, but I really want you and Amy to have this place," she said. "I was thinking that when Chris and I move, you can take this place over and make it your own. I chose every room in this house, but you can do renovations and get rid of whatever you don't like or just re-do it. Customize it and make it your own," she suggested. "It's been paid off for years, so this would be a gift from me to you. I really want you to have this place. Chris and I will get a new one close by, and that way, we can see each other more regularly."

"I can't," Ted said, shaking his head vehemently. "I didn't do any of the work to pay for this place, and I can't accept a house this large. It's way too much."

"Will you accept a smaller home in this general area?" Stephanie asked. "Maybe one that you and Amy pick out on your own?"

"We're too old to have you buying houses for us, but we appreciate the offer," Ted said. He reached over and patted Stephanie's hand. "You're very kind and generous, but it wouldn't feel right taking this place right out from underneath you. You saved your money and worked hard for it, so it should be yours to have."

"It _is_ mine, which is why I've chosen to gift it to you," she said. "I really hope you will reconsider and accept. You would be completely taken care of, and we'll make sure the bills are paid and everything is all set. It's not only my money that's going into this. Chris is making good money with my family's company, and he wants to help pay for this, too."

"But, see, we can't have you doing that. I refuse to be a freeloader," Ted argued. "I can't take this from you, and I don't mean to seem unappreciative, but I wouldn't be able to look at myself in the mirror every day if I accepted all of this from you. It would feel almost like I were mooching and taking advantage of you, and that's not what I want to do."

"Dad, why can't you ever accept a gift?" Chris asked. His exasperation was evident. "Steph wants to do this for you. She thought long and hard about it and weighed all her options, and she has her entire family's support in doing this. None of them think you're a mooch, because they know this was her idea."

"For me, it's not about what other people think, so much as it's about how I feel about myself. I don't think I can take all of this from your wife and feel good about it," he answered. "You may not understand that, but that's just the way I feel."

"We understand," Stephanie said, stepping in before Chris could argue his own point. She didn't want to incite anyone with the offer, and if Ted didn't think he was in a position to take it, she would respect that. Had she found herself in his place, she may have felt the same way. "My goal isn't to pressure you, but I want you to know that the offer is on the table. I have no issues with letting you choose a different house in the general area, if that would make you more comfortable. Chris and I will cover the cost so you both can move in, and that way you'll always have a home. It'll all be in your name, in case you ever decide to sell it, but we would really like for you to live in Greenwich with us, or at least on the outskirts of this town. It's a nice enough place and might take a little while to get used to, but we would all get to see each other regularly, which is the bigger goal."

"Little stuffy in this town, isn't it?" Ted asked, adjusting the collar of his shirt. Stephanie covered her mouth to stifle a giggle.

"It's definitely stuffy and pretentious, because that's Connecticut for you, but it's not all bad. Chris used to tell me in the beginning that he didn't think he would ever like this place, and even _he_ has warmed up to it a bit. He still prefers Winnipeg, but this place is starting to feel a little more like home all the time," Stephanie said. "I just want you to be near, to watch Graham grow. We need you here."

"Why don't we think about it, Ted?" Amy suggested. "Let's at least talk it over when we get some free time, instead of automatically turning her down. You're always talking about how much you miss seeing Chris and Graham, and this might finally be the opportunity for you to live nearby, without the worry of coming up with money to pay for it. We do struggle sometimes, you have to admit."

"Dad, if you're struggling, then you should tell me these things," Chris said, rolling his eyes when Ted wasn't looking. "Steph, Graham, and I are living in this huge house with all these nice things and you're struggling? There's no excuse for that. All you have to do is call me for money, and I'll send whatever you need. There's literally not a single reasonable excuse for you to be struggling when we have all this."

"I'm not your responsibility, son, but I appreciate that you care so much," Ted replied. Chris was almost completely out of patience. He had nothing left in him that he thought could propel him forward and make his father understand where he and Stephanie were coming from. "I don't want to become a burden."

"You're not a burden. Was I a burden when I called you from Winnipeg needing help?" Chris pointed out. "No, I wasn't, because we're a family, and this is what you do for your family."

"I wasn't much help, though, and I'm guilty for that every day of the week. It eats me up inside," Ted said, staring down at his pants. Amy patted his arm. "Do you have any idea what it felt like knowing you had lost your home, and not being able to do anything about it? I felt completely powerless, when all I wanted to do was have you come stay with me, but we didn't have the money to get you to New York. I could have tried harder; I could have, and I _should_ have."

"It's not your fault," Chris said. "It's nobody's fault. It just happened, but I'm glad it did, because it led me and Graham to Steph. We probably never would have met her otherwise."

"But I should have tried harder. You're my son, and you were depending on me. I didn't come through for you or for Graham, and I'll never get over that, for as long as I live. Having you offer me a home to stay in just doesn't feel right," Ted continued. His voice grew thick and heavy with emotion. He began massaging his temples to relieve the pressure. "Why should I take a home from you when I couldn't even provide you with one during your darkest days, when you were way worse off than me?"

"Because you didn't have control over the situation," Chris responded. "Dad, don't you think I know you would have moved Heaven and earth to help me, if you could have? Of course I know you would have wanted to make things better for me and Graham, but you didn't have the finances or the resources at the time, and what's done is done. I don't know why you're feeling bad about that or even bringing it up at all. You did what you could, and most of that whole mess wasn't even your fault. I don't think you realized that we were struggling with food as much as we actually were, because a lot of times, I was embarrassed and didn't want to tell you we didn't have any. I felt like a failure as a dad."

"You're not. You're the greatest thing Graham has in his life," Ted said, getting choked up. "You too, Stephanie."

"Thank you," she said. Stephanie rubbed Chris's back with her left hand and patted his leg with the other.

"What happened was awful, but it's over," Chris said. "There's no point in rehashing the past. We may as well move onto bigger and better things. I know that you wanted to help, and you would have, if you had had the means to do that. It's all water under the bridge, and now that things are better for me, I want them to be better for you and Amy. Steph and I want you guys to be close and have a nice place to live, so we're putting the offer of a home on the table. You can either accept or decline, but all we ask is that you give yourselves the weekend to think it over. Just talk about it when you have a moment alone together, and you can get back to us before you head back to New York. Deal?"

"Deal," Ted agreed.

"It's a deal," Amy echoed.

Ted and Amy got settled into the guestroom, which Stephanie had prepared specially for them. They wanted to rest up before the time came to pick Graham up from Nathan's house, in a couple of hours. They also probably wanted to talk about the idea proposed to them, and that was perfectly understandable. Chris was the last to leave Ted and Amy alone in the guestroom after supplying them with clean towels for the bathroom, and he closed the door so they could rest peacefully, but when he went searching for Stephanie, she was nowhere to be found.

Eventually, after several minutes and plenty of griping, Chris made it to the front door and noticed the green light glowing on the alarm system, meaning Stephanie had disarmed it. The only time they did that was when one of them had to go outside for something, so he tried the front door and found it unlocked. Chris grabbed a coat from the closet near the doorway and adjusted the collar around his neck so it laid flat, moving onto the porch and down the walkway. She wasn't in the driveway, so he started to turn back, thinking she had gone into the backyard instead, but something caught his eye: a flash of movement from inside their vehicle.

Squinting past the mildly tinted windows, he cupped the outer corner of both his eyes, checking to see if she was all right. Stephanie was nestled in the backseat of their vehicle, curled into a ball, but when she saw Chris looking inside, she quickly sat up, dusting her pants absently with both hands. Chris opened the back door, peering inside with a raised eyebrow and quizzically pursed lips, wondering if she had gone off the deep end. She shrank into herself under his scrutiny and tucked some hair behind her ear.

"Hi," she said, so softly Chris had to strain to hear her.

"Hi," Chris said, using the same airy tone. "Are you okay, my dear?"

"I'm okay, yeah, I am," she stumbled.

"Sure you are." Chris nodded slowly and slipped inside the backseat beside her, shutting the car door so there were closed off from the rest of the world. He possessed the innate ability to know when his wife needed him, and this was one of those times. He squeezed her thigh, caressing the open space with his thumb. "What's bothering you? If you need alone time, I'll understand. Just let me know if that's the case, and I'll get out of your hair."

"I don't mind having you here," Stephanie said. She took Chris's nearest hand and ran her thumb across his knuckles, swiping gently from left to right. "I was curious about something, so I wanted to come out here and test it," she said. Chris continued staring at her, and when she realized her short answer wasn't a satisfying enough explanation, she continued. "I was thinking about you and Graham and your lives before I met you, and I remember how you told me you guys used to bundle up with blankets and sleep in your car. I sort of wanted to see what it might be like to lie in a backseat. This is what Graham did every single night, and I was just curious, I guess."

"Aww, baby," Chris spoke sympathetically, pulling her close and kissing the top of her head, "I know you want to see the situation through our eyes, so you can understand, but it's unexplainable. You would have had to be there to truly get it, but you weren't, so be thankful for that. It wasn't pretty."

"I'm sorry," she whispered. After a few seconds, she gained her confidence and spoke more clearly. "I'm so sorry you two had to go through that."

"I am, too, but Graham and I got you out of the deal, which makes our past more than worth it."

"You guys beat the odds."

"But we couldn't have done it without you, Steph. Without you, we would be lost. The entire world would be lost without Stephanie McMahon," he said. She couldn't stop the smile from spreading across her face as Chris opened the door and guided her out of the car.

"That's Stephanie _Irvine_," she corrected. "And I like to think there's some truth to what you just said."

"There is. Believe me, there is."


	4. Treading the Line

A/N: Thanks so much for reading and reviewing. You guys are the best!

* * *

Stephanie blew some hair out of her face and swiped a hand over her flushed cheeks. She held up her wrist to check her watch and cringed at the time. Chris hadn't even come down the stairs yet, and Graham was running around like a maniac, switching between playing with his tablet device and cramming spoonfuls of sugary cereal into his mouth. With a defeated sigh, Stephanie's left hand came to rest on her forehead, and when Graham went digging through his backpack, that was the final straw. They _had_ to get out the door.

"Graham, zip up your backpack and finish your cereal," she said. "You have to get to school on time today. We can't keep being late."

"But you didn't sign this," Graham whined.

He tugged a packet out of his backpack, and it was a struggle for Stephanie not to growl. She was in the process of drifting through a patchy series of mood swings, and Chris was exercising his patience and helping her through, but she was barely hanging on. Even the slightest lapse in her expectations brought her to simmering levels of frustration, and though she couldn't understand why, Stephanie could guess that her pregnancy was playing some sort of role. Chris had called her doctor almost immediately after they received confirmation of her pregnancy, and after weeks of waiting, her first prenatal appointment had arrived.

She had already cleared her schedule for the morning and notified her father that she would be getting to work about an hour late, possibly slightly later. As far as Vince knew, Stephanie had been under the weather and was seeing a doctor so they could diagnose her with whatever ailed her. Instead, Chris would be by her side as their unborn child was monitored for the first time, shifting from a mere thought in their minds to an actual, functioning being in her body. Stephanie's budding irritability died down as she entertained herself with thoughts of the baby, only breaking free when Graham thrust a thick packet into her left hand.

"I have to take pictures today," he announced.

"You have to tell me as soon as you get these, Graham," Stephanie said, speaking firmly. "You can't keep giving these things to me in the mornings, when we're rushing out the door. From now on, you show me all of your school papers at the beginning of the weekend so we have enough time to sort through them."

"Okay, sorry," he said, staring down at the floor. She knew instantly that he had taken her words more harshly than she had meant them, so she took a second to kneel down to his level.

"Hey," she whispered sharply, hoping to grab his attention. He continued looking down. "No worries, honeybee. I'll make sure it gets done. I think we'll make Daddy drive so I can take care of all this on the way to school." He didn't acknowledge her response. "Graham?"

"What?" he asked quietly.

"You still love me, right?"

His smile returned like rays peeking through a cloud and flooded her with just the right amount of joy to brighten her morning back up. Life was too short to gripe about the small things. Instead of focusing on the time or the errands she had to run for the day, she needed to savor each moment as it came. Nothing outranked the importance of her family. When Graham tossed his arms around her, Stephanie dropped everything in her hands to the floor and hugged him back, pressing her eyes closed tightly.

"Today is a big day for me and Daddy, and I know you can't understand right this second why that is, but it's got me on edge. I'm sorry if I seem a little grouchy, because I don't want to be. It's just stress, but it's not fair for me to take that out on you, and I'm not going to. You're my special little boy, and I want you to have a good, amazing day."

"I want _you_ to have a good day," Graham returned. Chris came in just as Stephanie was kissing Graham's forehead, and she smiled at him over the top of Graham's head. He sent her a wink and went straight for the coffee pot, glancing around for his trusty thermos, which he used every morning to bring his coffee along for the car ride to work. He went searching for it inside the cabinet, and Stephanie stood and sent Graham to grab a granola bar from the cupboard for the ride to school, since his cereal had gotten soggy in the milk.

"We're running late," Stephanie told Chris, swiping her hand along his back as she passed him in the kitchen, searching to find something that she could bring along for her own breakfast.

"I know, we're going," Chris said, hurrying back to the coffee pot after locating his thermos.

He poured the steamy liquid in and secured the top, motioning for Graham to grab his things and follow them out the door. Stephanie stopped in the doorway, glancing back at the empty house behind her. The mornings were always quiet with Amanda and Caylie gone, but Sara would let herself in later to cook their evening meal, which would liven up the place, at least for a short while. When her arm fell to her stomach, she was reminded of the new baby, who would soon be joining them and breathing new life into their home. Chris's persistent tugging on her arm pulled her out of her thoughts.

"Let's head out, Steph," he said.

"Sorry, I was thinking a little too hard," she said. Stephanie slipped out the door and unlocked their vehicle. They all piled into the car with Chris at the wheel, and he used the remote button hanging on the overhead visor to open the garage door, backing out into the driveway and closing it again. Stephanie busied herself with the packet Graham had handed off to her, and after a short moment, she glanced back to look at him. "You really have to tell me next time your picture day is coming up so I can make sure you have a cute outfit. You're adorable right now, but I would have given you something other than a t-shirt to wear, if I had known."

"It's fine, babe. These are just his elementary school pictures, not his graduation ones," Chris said. "He's a kid, and he wears t-shirts all the time, so at least the pictures will be a fair representation of him. I don't think it's as big a deal as you do."

"Of course not," she said, tapping her pen against the paper. "That's because you're a man, and men just don't understand. Mommies notice these things, but daddies sure don't."

"Mommies rule!" Graham said, holding his hands up victoriously. Stephanie pointed his reaction out to Chris.

"See?" she asked playfully. "And I didn't even have to pay him to say that."

"Sure you didn't," Chris joked. "Graham, did Mommy give you money to talk about how great she is?"

"No," he shook his head. Leave it to Graham to answer the question with the utmost sincerity. "I only said that because it's true. I love Mommy."

"I know you do. I love her, too," Chris said. He reached out to pat Stephanie's leg, and she covered his hand with her own. "We would all be lost without her."

Stephanie's first prenatal appointment was lengthy and extensive, but it was also thorough, which put Chris at ease. Stephanie's chosen physician, Dr. Sonya Reid, was a pleasant woman who seemed to have detailed answers to every question Chris and Stephanie could possibly think up about their unborn child. Chris felt good about bringing Stephanie back there for the remainder of her appointments, and he looked forward to their first ultrasound, which was coming up in another four weeks. Even though the appointment had already eaten away at most of their morning, Chris made a pit stop at a restaurant along the way to enjoy a big breakfast with Stephanie.

He also stopped at a vitamin store so she could follow her doctor's first orders and pick up a bottle of prenatal vitamins. Their car was abuzz with delighted chatter as Chris drove to Titan, and he continuously reached over to rub Stephanie's arm and hair, any part of her within his reach. He would have loved to whisk her away for the day, somewhere quiet and secluded, where they could lose themselves in each other, but they had obligations to fulfill. Stephanie had a creative meeting to attend, as did Chris, since he was now allowed to sit in on them, so they were in no position to flake out. Still, that didn't stop Chris from considering making a call to Vince.

"We should tell your dad that you're sick and I have to stay home and take care of you," Chris said. He glanced over slowly, wanting to observe her reaction, and she surprisingly didn't object. Maybe she wanted privacy as much as he did. "I want to spend the day with you. I don't even think I'll be able to concentrate in my meetings today, because all I'm going to be thinking about is you, Graham, and the baby. I can't believe you're making me a dad for my second go-round."

"I can't believe you're making me a mother for _my_ second go-round," she said, with Graham in mind. Chris smiled at her, and she clarified. "I wasn't with him from the beginning, but I'm here now, and he means a lot to me. I feel a little bad, actually, because I think I might have been kind of hard on him this morning."

"Why?"

"Because he gave me those papers that had been sitting in his backpack all weekend, and I sort of griped about how he needed to give me all of his papers at the beginning of the weekend from now on. We tend to run late in the mornings, so it would be easier if he gave me the papers early so I could get them out of the way over the weekend and he could get to school on time through the week."

"That sounds like a perfectly valid argument, babe," Chris said. "I don't think you were too harsh at all."

"I know, but with the way I said it, I didn't yell or anything, but I think I hurt his feelings," she said, frowning at the memory of their exchange. "He was staring down at the floor and I felt horrible, so I bent down to give him a hug and a kiss. I'm still new to my role as his parent, and I'm terrified of messing up, you know? I just don't want to screw him up, because he's too sweet for that."

Chris flipped on his turn signal as he exited the highway. "I think you're getting all worked up for nothing. Kids are tougher emotionally than you think, and even if you were a little strict about it, Graham is fine. He's not going to be damaged by anything like that. You're a great mother to him, Steph. Honestly, you were a great mother figure to him even before we were married. You've always been like a parent to Graham, and he adores you. Why do you think he wants to be around you all the time? He even ditches me to be with you sometimes."

"He totally does," Stephanie agreed, giggling into her palm. "He wanted me to drive him to get his hair cut last weekend, and he comes and watches movies with me inside the house lots of times, instead of going outside with you. What am I saying? Graham loves me."

"You see?" Chris laughed, reaching for her hand and giving it a squeeze. "If you truly did put your foot down with him this morning, then I'm glad. He needs to understand that he can't procrastinate all the time and wait until we're walking out the door to bombard you with stuff to sign. By the way, you ordered enough of his school pictures for us to send copies to our parents and stuff, right?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "I just ordered the biggest package they had, since I figured we can never have too many pictures of him. There will be a few in the really big sizes, but the rest are smaller, and we got a bunch of the wallet sizes."

"Okay, good. I can't wait to see them," he replied. "Graham always takes really good pictures, so I'm sure they'll come out great."

"I was thinking that we should have some professional family pictures taken soon," Stephanie said. Their ride was winding down, as Chris traveled along the tree-lined road that would lead them into the parking garage at Titan Towers. "We have lots of random snapshots and phone pictures already, but I want us to take formal family photos. I was thinking we could do some now with you, me, and Graham, but we'll all take new ones when the baby comes."

"That's a good idea," Chris said. "Plus, we're gearing up to move into a new house, and I think the place will have a more homey vibe if we have framed family pictures hanging up."

"Great minds think alike. You took the words right out of my mouth."

"I'll check around and hire a photographer. Do you want the pictures taken at the house or somewhere else?"

"Somewhere else, preferably outdoors and on a sunny day. Maybe at a park or something, and Freddy can be in the pictures, too, since he's a part of the family."

"What my angel wants, my angel gets," Chris said, bringing her hand to his mouth and kissing her knuckles. "I'll take care of it."

Somehow, Chris and Stephanie managed to sneak out of work early that afternoon, but not before fielding one question after another from Vince about his daughter's health. He was suspicious because of the secrecy surrounding Stephanie's doctor visit earlier that morning, which was perfectly understandable. Chris was beginning to think her parents would piece the puzzle together and figure out that she was pregnant, but he hoped they wouldn't suspect anything until he could make the actual announcement with Stephanie, when the appropriate time came along. Since Graham was in the middle of football practice when they left work and they wouldn't be able to pick him up for another hour, Chris brought Stephanie straight home.

Between work, taking care of Graham, and chasing after Freddy, they didn't get a whole lot of time to themselves, so Chris treasured the opportunity for alone time, whenever it came around. He led Stephanie inside, stopping in the kitchen so they could chat with Sara as she cooked their dinner to perfection. After taste-testing the food and voicing their approval, Chris led Stephanie eagerly up the stairs and into their bedroom, kicking the door shut with his left foot. He took her purse directly from her hand and placed it on the chest at the edge of their bed, grabbing the bottom of her blouse and tugging it over her head.

Stephanie placed her hands on his shoulders for balance while he undid her belt and pants button, tugging her slacks down. She lifted each of her feet to assist him in removing the pants and, left only in her bra and panties, she went to their bed and tugged the covers back, climbing underneath. Chris removed his own suit and dress shoes, leaving them behind in a pile beside Stephanie's clothing, and he joined her in bed. He tossed his right arm across her midsection and lay his head on her chest, sighing contentedly when she began brushing over his scalp with her fingertips.

"I probably already say this way too often, but I love you, Steph, and I'm so excited that we're having a baby," Chris murmured. He couldn't see her face, but he felt the warmth of her smile just the same. "I worry that I'm coming off a little too blasé about the baby, only because I've been a father before, but I don't want you to think I'm taking this lightly. When we were at your appointment this morning, I was so proud of you. You took everything in and asked good questions, and there's nobody else in the world I would choose to be a mother to my children. I'm thrilled about this pregnancy," he said, picking his head up to make eye contact. He swished his hand over her bare stomach. "You know that, right?"

"I do," she replied. "I can tell you're excited. You're a lot more calm than me, but I pretty much assumed that was because this is familiar to you. You've been through it all before, but that doesn't make you any less happy to meet our new baby, and I understand that. I actually like that you're so calm, because it's helping to keep me from jumping out of my own skin. I just want to be a good mother. It's the most important job I'll ever have, besides being your wife, and you're helping to keep me calm about that."

"You're already a good mother. What did I tell you earlier?" Chris asked. He placed his head back down on her chest and closed his eyes, allowing the sound of her heartbeat to lull him into relaxation. "You're going to do great, Steph. Remember back when we had our pregnancy scare and I told you what I was most going to look forward to about your pregnancy?"

"Uh, my memory is a little grainy," she said, squinting as she thought back to that day, so far into the past. "I think you were just generally excited about seeing the baby and raising them together."

"Yes, but I also mentioned that I couldn't wait to watch you physically grow during the pregnancy," he said, filling in the blanks for her. "Women don't realize what a pregnancy is like from the man's point of view, but we love it when our wives are pregnant, because it's an honor. Think about it like this: how much more loving does it get than a woman making the decision to carry her husband's child? There's nothing more incredible a woman can do than that, and I can't wait to see you get big."

"I'm looking forward to getting bigger, too," she said. Stephanie yawned softly and held Chris a little tighter. "Pregnancy is the most beautiful thing, and I want to remember everything about the experience, especially since this is my first time being pregnant. I hope I'm not one of those women who hates being pregnant, though. Some women love it, but others only like the end result and can't stand actually being pregnant for nine months. We'll see, I guess."

"I imagine you liking it, but who knows," he said. Chris began rubbing her stomach in small circles. "You can tell me whenever you're feeling uncomfortable and I'll do my best to help. I'm really good at doting on pregnant women. By the way, how soon are we thinking up names?"

"Whenever you think of one, just let me know. We'll start a little list in my notepad on the table."

"Sounds good," Chris said. "If we have a boy, we should give him Danger as a middle name."

"So he'll be able to truthfully say to people 'Danger is my middle name'?"

"Yep."

"Yeah, that's _not_ going to happen, but thanks for playing," Stephanie said. She held her laughter until he tilted his head to look at her, but when he did, they both fell into a sea of giggles. "Are we finding out the sex of the baby ahead of time? I was sort of thinking we should wait for it and find out when they're born. The surprise would be nice, since there aren't a whole lot of those left in life anymore, you know?"

"I get that, but it's going to be a surprise either way. The only difference is whether we're finding out early or late, and I would prefer to find out early. I want to be able to paint when we move and get the nursery ready. Can we find out ahead of time?"

"I want to wait," she repeated. They had reached an impasse, and neither seemed ready to abandon their stance. Chris and Carly had found out right away that Graham was a boy, and he preferred knowing ahead of time. It just made sense to him, but he also wanted to keep his wife happy and respect her wishes. Even though Chris was torn, his wife won out, because she was the person carrying the child.

"I want whatever you want, then," he told her. "You're the person who's going to be carrying our baby for nine months, and I can't put into words how much I love and respect you for being willing to do that. If you want to wait until you give birth to find out the sex, I'm okay with that, because I want you to be happy. We'll come up with boy and girl names, pick our favorites from each side, and we'll name the baby whatever we've decided when the time comes, based on their gender when they come out."

"Thanks, sweetie," she said, a smile dancing in her eyes. "You're always so good to me. You didn't even have to let me win that standoff, but you still did."

"Hey, I aim to please, and I want a happy wife. You know the old saying: happy wife, happy life."

"By the time we go to my next appointment in a month, we'll have our first ultrasound pictures, so I need to make sure I fly your dad and Amy in. I want them at my parents' house so we can give all of them the big news at the same time. I really hope they will be excited for us and that they don't try to start lecturing or anything," Stephanie said, pursing her lips and growing quiet for a moment. "They've been better lately, in each of their defenses, but I don't want them trying to tell us what to do, like they used to before we were married. We're adults, and we decided we were ready for a baby, so I got pregnant, end of story."

"That's right. It was our decision and we wanted this. This baby isn't a mistake," Chris said, glancing at her stomach, even though there wasn't much to see yet. "I'm not letting anyone make us feel bad about our timing. Yes, it's still early in our marriage, but we talked about this, and we both wanted it. There's nothing that's going to bring me down, and I hope you'll go into this with that same mindset."

"I will, but their support would be nice."

"We'll have to pray for it, I guess. No matter what, we have each other."

Stephanie kissed his hair and entwined their fingers. "And that's all I need to get by."


	5. Isn't Life Grand?

A/N: Hi, guys! Thanks for being patient with me while I worked to get this chapter up. I sincerely hope you like it!

* * *

"Is everything ready?" Stephanie asked. She had been pacing near the kitchen counter and biting her nails all morning long, which she _never_ did. The day was happy in nature, but anxiety was in the air, and her stomach was stuck in a series of nauseating flips. Chris gave her a nod, and she called Graham into the room. They had left him in the den to watch a movie until they got their gift together, and now that Chris had organized it all, they were set to bring him to open it in the backyard.

Graham bounded into the kitchen with a cheery smile and ran straight to Chris, hugging him around the legs. "I get a surprise, Daddy?"

"You sure do. Mommy and I have a huge present to give you, then we're heading over to Papa Vince's and Mama Linda's for a big dinner," Chris said.

A tiring 3 ½ weeks had passed since Stephanie's first prenatal appointment, and Chris had been in close contact with his dad and Amy all week, who were also headed into town right then. He and Stephanie would swing by the airport to pick them up when their flight arrived, and from there, they would all head over to Stephanie's parents' home so everyone could be in on the big news. Chris had planned the day in such a way that everyone would find out the surprise in staggered intervals, and they would cap off the day by enjoying a video chat with Amanda and Caylie, in which they would share their latest developments. Chris slid the patio door open and Graham stepped outside, quite eagerly.

Stephanie began to follow, but Chris stopped her short, pressing his lips to hers and reveling in silence when he pulled away and found her cheeks flushed. She smiled and kissed his cheek, slipping into the backyard with Graham and taking a seat at their picnic table. A 16 x 18 gift box, with a red bow tied around center, sat untouched on the tabletop, and Graham sat across from it, staring it down as if he could see his gift from straight through the box. Stephanie laughed at his entrancement and reached out to pat his hand. Chris joined them a short time later.

"We have some very big news for you, Graham, and I hope you'll be happy with it. I think you will, but, you know, I'm just hoping, I guess," Chris said. Stephanie glanced over at him. It was the first time she had ever heard Chris ramble, so she knew he was nervous beyond measure. She reached for his hand under the table and gave it a firm, encouraging squeeze, to remind him they were in it together. "You can untie the ribbon and open up the box whenever you're ready."

"I'm ready now!" Graham exclaimed.

"Go ahead, then," Stephanie urged. She and Chris exchanged nervous smiles and watched closely as Graham tugged the ribbon loose and pulled the top off of the box. Nearly half of his head disappeared into the box as he rummaged around inside to figure out what was waiting for him, and the crinkling of food packages was the first thing they heard. Leave it to Graham to seek out the edible part of the present first.

He tugged out a couple of individually-wrapped, frosted cookies, and a variety pack of chocolate candy bars. "I'm gonna eat all of these!"

"How about only a little bit at a time?" Chris laughed. "We don't need you running around here with a major sugar rush."

"M'kay," Graham shrugged. He found a few candy suckers and a tape roll of apple-flavored bubble gum, and he placed those out on the table as well, reaching back into the bag. The tips of his fingers hit something hard, and he frowned as he felt around, trying to figure out what else he had in store. "What's that hard thing, Daddy?"

"Pull it out and take a look," Chris directed. He slipped his arm around Stephanie's shoulders, and she brought her hand up to hold his. Graham picked the hidden item up and pulled it out of the bag, revealing a hardcover book, with a brightly colored display of a dark-haired little boy standing next to a carriage with a baby inside. He squinted and read the title aloud, leaving Chris and Stephanie grinning like fools.

"It says, um, _I'm A Big Brother, by Joanna Cole_," Graham said, holding it up. "I like books about big brothers," he proclaimed.

It became clear he didn't grasp the message they were trying to send, so Chris gave him a nudge in the right direction. "That book is a little below your age range, but I think it gets the general point across, so read it when you get the chance. Keep going, kiddo. See what else you can find in your present box."

He felt around for a bit, until his fingers bumped into the gentle material of a t-shirt, and Graham unfolded the shirt, holding it up high so he could read the writing. Again, he read it aloud, with both of his parents watching on with infinite pride. "It says, _Special Member of the Only-Child Club since 2000. Membership expires: May 2010. _I like this shirt. It looks cool."

"Yeah?" Chris asked.

"Yep, it's really nice. Thanks, Daddy," he said, running around the table and giving Chris a hug. He went to Stephanie next, giving her a big kiss on the cheek. "Thanks, Mommy. I like all this stuff."

"You're so welcome, honey," Stephanie said, kissing his cheek in return. She turned him toward the table and used her index finger to slide his box over to them. "You're not quite finished yet, though. Take a closer look."

"There's more?" Graham asked. His mouth dropped open in surprise, and they laughed at his tired, droopy eyelids. "Opening presents is making me sleepy."

"There are only a few more things. You're almost done," Stephanie said. Graham went through the final remnants of the box, laying everything he found out on the table: a box of colored pencils, a blank sketch pad, a few Hot Wheels toys, and a framed photo. The photo was grainy and made Graham confused. All he saw was a black-and-white swirl that looked like a cloud on a dark and gloomy day. Across the top of the frame, in bold blue letters, was yet another message for him: _Big Brother Graham_.

"Everything is about big brothers," Graham said, a hint of frustration in his voice. "It says that everywhere, on all this stuff," he said, but then, an incredible thing happened. The gears began shifting in his mind, and Chris used Graham's facial expressions to follow his thought process from start to finish, ending with his eyes lighting up like the star at the top of a Christmas tree. "If all my stuff says big brother, that means I get to be a big brother. Is that why I get all this?"

"You guessed it!" Chris said, clapping his hands. Chris used his nearest arm to pull Graham close, so that he was standing between him and Stephanie. He smoothed Graham's hair down and patted his back. "Mommy and I wanted you to know how special you are to us. We love having you around so much that we wanted another child just like you, so before next summer comes, you're going to have a little brother or sister."

"I am?" Graham said, gaping at both of them. "I get a brother or a sister?"

"Yes. Isn't that exciting?" Chris grinned. "Mommy's having a baby. We went to the doctor yesterday for a check-up," he said. He reached for Graham's framed photo and held it up, pointing at a small sphere near the center of the picture. "You see that tiny dot right there?" Graham nodded. "That's your little brother or sister. They're going to grow very, very big inside Mommy's tummy, and she's going to give birth somewhere around May 20th. That's her due date. Basically, when it's almost time for you to be out of school for the summer, the new baby will be coming."

"Is it a boy or a girl?" Graham asked.

"We don't know yet," Chris explained. "Mommy wants to be surprised about the gender when she gives birth, so we're not going to find out what the baby is, until they finally get here. The day that they're born is when we'll know for sure, but I really hope that you're happy about this. I know you have it in you to make a great big brother, and you're going to be a lot older than the baby, so hopefully you can teach them a thing or two about our lives. By the time the baby comes, you'll be 10 years older than them, so they're going to look up to you very much."

"I'll be 10 by then?"

"You sure will," Chris said. He pulled Graham into a hug. "I'm really proud of you, little buddy. We've been together since the beginning, and I've loved every second of being your dad and watching you grow into such a great kid. Being your father is the best, most important job I'll ever have, and you'll always be my firstborn, no matter what. You're very special to me, and you're not getting pushed aside or forgotten about. I'm making enough room in my life for you _and_ the new baby, okay?"

"I know, Daddy. I'm happy the baby is gonna be here, because I wanted a brother for a long time."

"It might be a girl," Chris reminded him.

"No, it's gonna be a boy," he said. Chris chuckled at that and kissed the top of his head.

"I love you forever, pal."

"I love you, too," Graham said. When he pulled away from Chris's arms, Graham went to Stephanie and placed each of his hands on his hips, leaning in close, to seemingly inspect her stomach. She watched him with a smile, and he eventually reached out and poked the center of her stomach with his index finger. He began shaking his head. "There's no baby in there."

Stephanie tossed her head back and shook with laughter, giggling until her eyes welled. She swiped at the corners of her eyes with her fingertips and brought her palm down gently on Graham's left cheek. "You always crack me up, honeybee."

"But I don't see a baby," he shrugged.

"They're in there, I promise," Stephanie said, patting her stomach. "Daddy and I went to the doctor, and she showed us the baby on a small screen. It's called an ultrasound, and that's where the picture that we gave you came from," she said, taking the framed photo from Chris and showing it to Graham again. "That's the baby, and they're inside of me right now. I don't look very big yet, but I will soon. My stomach will grow and you'll be able to tell that he or she is in there."

Graham reached out and tapped her stomach again. "I wasn't in your stomach ever."

"No, you weren't, but I love you just the same," Stephanie replied. She grabbed onto his hand and held it, caressing his skin with her thumb. "You're luckier than most, because you have two mommies who love you very much. Mommy Carly watches over you from Heaven, and I watch over you here on earth. You have double the amount of mommy love."

"I like that," he said, the smile returning to his face. Stephanie laughed and pulled him close, sending Graham into a fit of giggles as she held him in place and peppered his cheeks, forehead, and chin with soft kisses. When her playful assault reached its conclusion, Graham tugged out of her arms and ran to the sliding patio door, shouting over his shoulder, "I'm callin' Papa Vince and Mama Linda so I can tell 'em all about the new baby!"

"No!" Chris and Stephanie shouted in unison. They both shot off the bench to catch Graham.

Ted and Amy arrived early that afternoon, and Chris picked them up on a solo trip, bringing them to his home only long enough for them to drop their bags off and freshen up. When that was over, everyone piled into the car and Chris drove them to the home of Vince and Linda. He and Stephanie had been successful in catching Graham before he called Vince and Linda to spill the beans about the baby news, and he understood that he had to keep the secret quiet, until everyone was seated as a group for dinner. Graham was satisfied in knowing he would be an instrumental part of the big reveal, as Chris and Stephanie had made him the focal point of the announcement.

Upon their arrival, Vince opened the front door to let everyone inside, and they all headed into the kitchen and took their seats at the dining room table, since dinner was almost fully prepared. Linda worked tirelessly in the kitchen, and Stephanie went to help her, while Chris, Graham, Vince, Ted, and Amy sat around the table, all getting acquainted with one another. Every so often, Chris would get up to peek in on Stephanie, and almost every time, her hand would be resting unconsciously on her stomach. The sight brought a smile to his face every time. Stephanie was a natural-born mother, and he could hardly wait to see her in action with their baby.

Dinner was served around 10 minutes after their arrival. A baked honey ham was served for the main course, along with macaroni and cheese, potato salad, and warmed dinner rolls with honey butter. Stephanie had requested iced tea to drink, so Linda made a large pitcher of the beverage, along with providing glasses of ice water with lime for everyone else. Chris was sitting beside Stephanie, and he kept nudging her leg with his own, smiling at her around bites of food as they decided when the right time would come to make their announcement. Graham's eyes darted between each of them, like he could hardly stand waiting to let the surprise out, and Vince was frowning strangely at all three of them.

"What's up with the three of you?" Vince wondered.

"Who?" Ted asked, oblivious to what was going on under his nose.

"Chris, Stephanie, and Graham," he supplied. Vince buttered his roll and took a small bite. "You're all looking at each other really oddly, like something is going on. If there's something wrong, you need to tell us."

Linda wiped her mouth with a napkin and turned her attention to Stephanie. "What is it, honey? Did something happen?"

"Oh, something happened all right," she smirked. Chris clutched her hand under the table and she gave him a return squeeze, leaning over and pressing her lips to his. Chris's arm went around her waist immediately and he held her in place, tilting his head and bumping noses with her as he struggled to taste more of her mouth. They each pulled away breathless, with flushed cheeks, and Stephanie gave Graham the nod. He stood and displayed his pearly whites, smiling from one ear to the other as he unzipped the jacket covering his shirt. "Chris and I have an announcement to make, but we're going to let Graham do the honors, since this is special for him, too."

"Look at me, everyone," Graham directed.

He was eating up all of the attention, as every set of eyes in the room shifted to him. He glanced at his parents for guidance, and Chris and Stephanie each urged him on with smiles, signaling for him to continue. Graham shrugged his jacket off and hung it up on the back of his chair. Then, he grabbed the bottom corners of his shirt to hold them down and walked around the table, showing off the message on his clothing.

Vince read the words aloud. "Special member of the only-child club since 2000. Membership expires: May 2010."

"You're pregnant?" Linda gasped. She dropped her fork onto her plate with a resounding clink and brought her hand to her chest, watching Stephanie for her answer. "Is that what his shirt is saying? You're pregnant?"

"I am, and Chris and I have known for a while, but we wanted to wait until I got past my first trimester to announce it. I'll be officially entering my second trimester in a few days, and I'm due in May," Stephanie said. She steeled herself for a turbulent sea of reactions, imagining everything from receiving a lecture to warding off her parents concerns that it was too soon for a baby. What she actually received, however, was the exact opposite, as Linda rushed from her seat, rounded the table, and threw her arms around Stephanie.

"I am so, _so_ happy for you, baby," Linda said, rocking Stephanie in her arms. Linda kissed the top of her head, all while Vince and Ted got out of their chairs, each going in to hug Chris and congratulate him as well. "This is wonderful news, and I can't wait to become a grandmother all over again. I'm excited for you, sweetheart."

"Thanks, Mom," Stephanie said, laughing into her mother's shirt while commotion ensued all around her. The room was abuzz with sound, a mix of raucous laughter and cries of glee, and Graham walked over and cuddled up to Stephanie. She rubbed his hair to let him know he hadn't been forgotten about, and Linda pulled away and cupped Stephanie's cheek in her right hand. "It means a lot that you're happy for us. Chris and I were nervous about how everyone would take the news, but we're so glad that you're supportive."

"There's no reason not to be," Linda said. "You're married now and in a loving, committed relationship, and I can't think of any other couple who would be more deserving of the joy that comes from a new baby than you two are. I am just so thrilled, and I mean it. I'm looking forward to going shopping for clothing and decorations for the nursery."

"Is it a boy or a girl?" Ted asked. He came around to hug Stephanie and kissed her on the forehead as he pulled away.

"Actually, we're not going to find out until I give birth," she said. "Chris wanted to find out, but I wanted to be surprised, so he went along with that and told me we could wait until I actually have the baby to find out. We don't care whether it's a boy or a girl. We only want for them to be healthy."

"Do you have any names picked out?" Amy asked. "You must have an entire list."

"We do have a list," Stephanie answered. "I wouldn't say it's a _huge_ list or anything, but Chris and I are coming up with boy and girl names, and we'll just pick our favorite when the baby comes and we find out their gender. It's funny because we tend to think up names randomly throughout the day, and I keep the notepad with me, so Chris will call me while we're at work for a second, just to tell me a name to add to the list. We're both contributing, and we're just collecting every name that we think of. I'm excited to choose one, when the time comes."

"We have a real cool name for a boy, I think," Chris said, eying Stephanie. "You know which one I'm talking about, babe."

"Yep, I know," she smiled. "I have to give you credit, because it really is a good name, but we still have quite a bit of time before we'll have to make a decision."

In the time it took for everyone to get their questions out about her pregnancy, Ted must have been thinking hard about what had transpired over the past month, because he tapped Stephanie's shoulder and knelt beside her chair. Linda was still behind Stephanie, running her hands over her daughter's hair, and she listened in on what Ted was saying. "Now it makes sense to me. Is this why you wanted me and Amy to live here in Connecticut? You mentioned having us closer to Graham, but it must have been because you wanted us to be around for the new baby, too, right?"

"That's basically the main reason," Stephanie confirmed. She smiled at Chris as he wandered back over to Vince and they clapped one another on the back, discussing Chris's second chance at fatherhood. "Chris and I are looking for a new home because we want to live in a place that we bought together, but we also want you and Amy to move here so you can watch the kiddies grow up. You had that luxury with Graham when he was a little baby, and I'd love for you to have it with this child, too. We just want you to be nearby so you won't miss out on all the things my parents will be able to do with Graham and the baby, since they live so close. Plus, we're going to want more kids in the future, I'm sure, and we want you to be around for them, too."

"How can we possibly say no to their offer now?" Ted asked. He made eye contact with Amy from across the table, and she responded with a knowing shrug.

"I've been telling you since they made that offer that it was a good idea," Amy said, with a short laugh. "It might turn out to be a dream come true, and especially now that we know there's a new baby involved. I would love to move down and be here for all the changes going on. This is such a happy times in everyone's lives, and we should be here for it."

"We accept," Ted told Stephanie. "I'm still not sure about taking this house from you, but if it's still okay, Amy and I will search for a smaller place that will be safe for the kids. We're moving to Connecticut, it looks like."

"Really?" Stephanie clapped her hands. "You'll really come?"

Ted placed his hand on her forearm. "We will. We love you like you're our own daughter, and we're so proud of you, Chris, and Graham. You're going to make extraordinary parents, and I know Graham will be an outstanding big brother."

"I will," Graham agreed, bringing even bigger smiles to everyone's faces. Stephanie rubbed Graham's hair again and tapped her cheek. He gave her a kiss in the designated spot and Stephanie held him close, whispering in his ear.

"I'm proud of you, sweetie pie," she said, so nobody else would overhear. She wanted the moment to be all their own. "Thank you for helping me and Daddy share the news. What you did for us just now was very special."

"I'm _so_ cool!" Graham shouted, holding his hands up in victory. Stephanie tossed her head back and let out all of her laughter, returning his earlier kiss with one of her own.

"You're the coolest, like I always say," Stephanie said. "All right, honey, go back to your chair so you can eat your dinner before it gets cold. I would recommend the same to everyone else, too," she said, following that with a charming smirk. "You're all forgetting about your food."

"It's okay, give 'em a moment," Chris suggested. "This is a lot for them to take in, but especially for your parents, with their only daughter becoming a mommy and all."

"She's _my_ mommy already," Graham argued, crossing his arms and pouting in his seat. He was jealous, possibly even a tad overly possessive, but that was understandable with all the attention the unborn child was receiving. Chris and Stephanie had already discussed how they wanted to pay special attention to Graham for the duration of her pregnancy and in the first few months after the baby arrived home, as that was when Graham would be the most sensitive to another child living under their roof.

"You're right, I'm sorry," Chris corrected himself. "You belong to Mommy, too."

"That's right. Nobody replaces my little honeybee," she said. Graham glanced over at her with a cautious smile, and she blew him a kiss, which he pretended to catch and press into his cheek, sending everyone into hysterics. Stephanie laughed and clapped her hands. "That was a good catch, sweetie."

Graham left his chair and jogged back around the table to give her a hug. Stephanie held him close as everyone else returned to their seats and the chatter died down. She pressed her hand to the top of Graham's head, saying, "Baby number one," then she touched her stomach, "and baby number two. We're so blessed."

"That we are," Chris agreed. "Life is good."


	6. One Is the Loneliest Number

A/N: Thanks for standing by this story. I hope you'll like what I came up with!

* * *

Stephanie was first out of the vehicle when they parked in the driveway. She veered away from the home's front door and onto the stairs that led to the spacious front lawn, spawning fresh, dew-dropped grass. Adjacent to that was a set of arched walkways, which led onto a small front yard patio, and the view inside the home displayed just how stunning the interior was as well. Cupping her hands around her eyes, Stephanie squinted through the nearest window, a soft smile playing on her lips. She could get used to raising her children in such a place.

When she backed away from the window, she took in the sophistication of the architecture, noting that the top half of the house was comprised of cedar shingles, the bottom half formed by authentic cobblestone. A sprawling charter oak tree stood tall in the front yard, and Stephanie noted the expanse of the place, the grass seeming to stretch for miles on end. The home stood on its own, away from neighbors and prying eyes, and that was the way she preferred it. Chris liked the mild disconnect from the rest of the townspeople, too, mostly because he found it difficult to make friends with the stuffier portion of the Connecticut population.

A bird cawed overhead and Stephanie's eyes were drawn to it, just as her hands were to her growing stomach. She watched the creature soar, enchanted by its easy song, as it sliced the stillness of the air with a set of black wings, a stark contrast to the cornflower blue sky. A gust of wind swept over Stephanie, sending a flutter through her hair and jacket collar, and she wrapped her arms around her body, bouncing lightly on her feet in an attempt to warm herself. A second floor, circular balcony overlooked the lawn, and Stephanie imagined placing a rocking chair out there, so she and Chris could bring the baby out for fresh air, when the weather warmed up.

The thick pillars joining each segment of the house were a soft teal shade, and the trimming that lined the doors and windows matched. Beyond the dense patches of grass, the woods stretched for miles, and the surrounding trees displayed a healthy amount of multicolored leaves, leftover from a slowly retreating autumn. The jingle of car keys made her aware that Chris was near, and his arm glided around her waist a few seconds later. The hum of another car's engine filled her ears, which she recognized as the vehicle of their realtor, who had followed them to the property so she could showcase the house and all its strong points. Her work was cut out for her.

The familiar smells of hickory bark and ocean mist captured Stephanie's senses, and she rested her right temple against Chris's chin, thankful for the lack of snowfall. She whispered calmly, "Autumn."

"I know, isn't it gorgeous?" Chris said, in his assumption that she was referencing the season, but her single-word comment held a dual meaning.

"It is, but I didn't only mean the time of year. I was thinking that could go on our list of baby names," she said. Chris glanced at her, and her eyebrows lifted into involuntary arcs as she awaited his reply. "Season names can be cute, I think. If we have a girl, do you think you might like to name her Autumn?"

"Possibly, but my favorite season is actually summer," he stated. Her scowl was enough to bring a cheeky smile to his face, and he kissed her cheek. "I like it, though, babe. We should add it to the list and talk it over later, but we could also add Summer."

"I left my notepad in the car, but as soon as I can get back to it, I'll add both names."

"Good," he replied.

Chris kissed her temple and began leading her back up the steps just in time, because Graham had appeared at the top of them with the realtor, and he waved them both over. Apparently, Chris and Stephanie weren't the only two people eager to take a look inside the home. Their realtor, Connie, wore a pant suit that shuddered in the breeze, and her honey blonde hair, almost the same shade as Graham's, fell flatly against her head, barely reaching her shoulders. She wore light makeup and didn't appear high maintenance, which was a stark contrast to the grandiosity of the luxury homes she showed so often to Chris and Stephanie.

They shook her hand and strode to the front door together, waiting patiently behind Connie as she stuck the key in the lock and turned it. The lock clicked, and she pushed the door open, allowing everyone else inside first. Chris thanked her softly as he walked by, but he was shocked right back into silence upon seeing the house for the first time. An exquisite crystal chandelier hung several feet above their heads, but Chris's eyes were led straight to the dual staircase, closed in by an elegant, wooden bannister. He so happened to check on Graham and found that his son's mouth had dropped open entirely as he took it all in.

"Cool!" he shouted. Graham dashed to the left row of stairs and began running up them, with almost no regard for safety. Chris was prepared to stop him, but Stephanie beat him to the punch.

"Hey!" she called firmly, but without malice. Graham knew when she meant business, and he stopped right away, turning around slowly to meet her gaze. "Why are you running up the stairs, and even worse, why are you not holding onto the bannister?"

"I dunno," he shrugged. "Sorry."

"That's okay, but you need to be careful. My heart wouldn't be able to take it if something bad were to happen to you," she said. Stephanie went to the bottom of the stairs and placed her hand on the bannister for balance. "No running, hold onto the railing, and be careful up there. Daddy and I are going to see the rooms down here first, but we'll be up there with you soon."

"Okay," Graham replied. They watched him walk up the remainder of stairs, and he held his toy car out at his side when he reached the landing, leading the vehicle through the air as if it were flying, until he finally disappeared from their sight.

"He's so adorable," Connie said, smiling up in the direction Graham had just gone.

"Thank you," Chris and Stephanie answered jointly, a knee-jerk response for each of them.

Chris smiled at Stephanie and gave her a wink, leading her off behind Connie so they could check out the rest of the house. They went through two large rooms, one that was fit for a den, the other they were contemplating moving all of their gym equipment into, but when they got to the kitchen, Chris finally found a room that impressed him equally as much as the view of the place from just inside the front door. The marble counter made an arc around the kitchen, shaped like half an oval, and a row of onyx bar chairs were lined right behind it. Across from that was a large island, where food could be prepared or displayed for guests.

The kitchen sink dipped down in the middle of the curved counter, and several hanging lights were in place above the bar area, which would come in handy if they had a late dinner, or guests over, in the evenings. Chris pointed out a vacant spot to Stephanie. "We could mount an HD TV right there, pretty much like how it is at home already."

"Our kitchen isn't like this at all, though. This is so much nicer," she said. "I'm really impressed, and we haven't even seen the whole house yet. Do you think it looks safe enough for the baby?"

"To be honest, I really think any home is only as safe for a baby as you make it. If we wanted to make the place we have now a little safer, we could," Chris said. Connie stood with her arms folded in front of her body, waiting for the perfect moment to interject, so she could highlight all the fine points of living with children inside that particular house. "We're mostly buying a new house because we want a place that belongs to both of us and that we chose together, right?"

"I guess so," Stephanie said. She pursed her lips, making clear her growing anxiety and doubts. He took her hand and led her around the kitchen as they surveyed the appliances, including the oven, overhead microwave, and dishwasher. Stephanie slid the palm of her hand along the cool counter as they moved. "It's such a nice place. I mean, I could imagine us living here as a family. I could be right here in the mornings making breakfast," she said, pointing to a small area in the corner, "and we could put the coffee pot here." She pointed across the room. "Our dining room table can go there, and you could be sitting there with the baby before you go to work."

"We're not bringing Sara with us?"

"We are, but I want her to mostly be in charge of cooking our dinners. I'm going to be slowing down with work and working from home a lot more, so I should be able to take care of breakfasts and lunches. I already talked to my dad, and he said it's fine. I want to stay off of TV and sort of retire my onscreen character for a while," she explained. "Graham and the baby are my biggest priorities, and so are you, and I want to start transitioning into more of a role as a stay-at-home mom. I'll let you take over for me at the office, since you're doing such an excellent job."

"Really?" Chris asked, widening his eyes. "I don't mind the workload and I love my job, but are you sure you won't miss coming into the office? I don't want you to stay home with the kids and start getting burned out on that."

"Chris, they're our children. I can't get burned out on my own kids," Stephanie told him, shaking her head, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Besides, if I start missing the office after my maternity leave ends, I'll just hire Vivian to watch over the baby so that I can work while Graham is in school, during the day. There are ways to work around it, if I start missing my job."

"And what if you start missing being on TV?" he wondered.

"Then we'll find a way," she shrugged. Stephanie hugged him around the waist. "There's always a way, sweetie. It's up to us to find it."

"I can agree with that."

Connie stepped up with a kind smile, leading them into the next room. When they had searched around the entire downstairs area, they cut back through the kitchen to look at the backyard, and what Stephanie saw through the patio door was enough to send her back to the bottom of the main staircase. She cupped her mouth and called out for Graham, waiting until he appeared at the top of the stairs. "Be careful when you walk, but can you come down here for a second?"

"What's wrong, Mommy?" Graham asked. His brow crumpled with a mass of lines, as if he were much older than his age.

"Nothing's wrong," Stephanie laughed. "Everything's perfect. The backyard here is beautiful, and I want you to come take a look at it with me and Daddy and tell us what you think. You're an important part of this family, so we need your input, too, okay?"

"Okay!" Graham said. He was eager to help set plans for their future, so he walked down the stairs, with Stephanie watching his every step to make sure he was holding onto the railing. She couldn't have her son falling down the stairs and getting hurt, so she chose to err on the side of protectiveness, even when her efforts were a tad excessive. "Is it really nice?"

"It's gorgeous. Wait until you see for yourself," she said. Stephanie took his hand and led him to the patio door, which was already open, since Chris and Connie had slipped outside to take a peek at the spectacular view. When she stepped out with Graham, his jaw dropped for a second time, and he lost his grip on his toy car, jumping when it crashed to the ground. Chris glanced in their direction to see what the commotion was about, and Stephanie smiled, giving him a slight shrug. "What can I say? He's impressed."

"I don't blame you, bud," Chris laughed.

He walked over and rubbed Graham's hair, taking in the sights. Mirroring the front of the house, the backyard was spread out just past another set of cement pillars, forming four separate archways. A tiled sitting area proceeded the kidney-shaped swimming pool, with an circular hot tub attached. Beyond that, across the grassy lawn, was a lake that stretched for tens of yards and ended with a matching patch of grass on the opposite bank, which faded into more grass and a wall of dense woods. The red flag in the back of Stephanie's head raised itself almost immediately.

"Um, Chris, a second of your time, please?" Stephanie beckoned him over with her index finger, and Connie eyed them curiously. She was in the business of making a sale, but Stephanie was no longer certain the house was right for them. The discovery of such a large lake was a concern, so when Chris made it to her, she leaned in close. "I really like this place a lot, and I thought it seemed perfect a second ago, but that lake is dangerous. It's almost directly in our backyard, and we can put a gate around the pool, but there's nothing we can do about a lake that size."

"I don't think it's bad. I could take Graham fishing out there during the summer months, when the water isn't frozen over," Chris said. Graham slipped in between Chris and Stephanie, looking up at each of them with hope in his eyes. He wanted that house to become their new home, and all it took was a single look into his eyes for Stephanie to grasp that. "What do you think, Graham? We could go get a couple of fishing poles and go searching for some food."

"Yuck," Stephanie commented. Her upper lip curled in disgust. "I would never eat anything that I had to skin and gut all by myself, and besides that, you're missing my point. We have a 9-year-old and a baby on the way," she said, placing her hand protectively on her stomach. "This presents a water hazard, and I don't want the kids around it. It only takes a minute or two for a baby to drown."

"I'm not drownin'," Graham said. He tugged on Stephanie's pant leg until he got her attention. She rubbed his left cheek with her right hand. "I know how to swim, so even if I go in water, I can float in it all by myself. I won't let my baby brother drown, either. If he falls in water, I could get him out."

"I know you would, sweetheart, but you have to understand that...wait, your baby _brother_?" she asked, a slightly delayed response. Chris smirked, struggling to stifle his laughter. "We don't know what the baby is yet. It could be a boy or a girl, and we're going to be thankful and thrilled either way, right?"

"Yep," Graham nodded, "but I still know it's a boy."

"If you say so," Stephanie said. She drew Chris in closer by latching onto his arm. "I want a place that will be safe for the kids. That's the biggest reason why we're buying a house, aside from wanting a place that we picked out together as a married couple. If we can't find a safe house, we should just have a house built for ourselves. I can sell some of my stock and get cash for it, and we can draw out the general layout that we want our house to have and pay for it in cash. We'll find a piece of land that isn't anywhere near all this water, and we can have a safe haven for our children. They're all that matters."

Graham had picked his toy car up from the ground and occupied himself with that while Chris mulled over Stephanie's words. Connie began flexing her hands, a nervous habit, when she noticed there might be a chance they would pull out of purchasing the house. She opened her mouth to add to their conversation, which she had caught bits and pieces of, but Chris beat her to the punch. "I understand your concern, Steph, but there would be no point in time when the kids are ever, under _any_ circumstances, out here by themselves. They would always have an adult with them, which would pretty much be either you, me, one of our parents, or Vivian. That's about it."

"When babies get to walking and running age, they run from their parents. I've seen it before," she said. "They're only babies and they're just being playful, but what if the baby gets a head start on me and runs toward the lake?"

"An adult would be out here to see them do it, and we could grab them in time. Look, if you're truly concerned, we can figure something out and have a gate built around the property that would keep the kids locked in here, unless we were the ones to take them out," Chris suggested. "Then, we'll put a separate gate around the pool and hot tub so they can't get into that, either. Just like you said in the kitchen, there's always a way to make things work. We just have to find it."

"I would rather have a brick wall, or something similar, built around the entire property. We're going to need one in front, too, because if any WWE fans figure out that I live here, they might try to approach the house, and I would panic if that happened when you weren't here," Stephanie admitted. "I'm not the most famous person in the world, but I'm a popular public figure, and people might get curious if they find out I'm living here."

"Right, so we're going to need a wall or a gate anyway," Chris agreed. "How about this? I'll make some phone calls when we get home and find out what sort of wall we can have built around the entire property. We would be buying this place outright, so we can add whatever we want to it. If I make sure to take care of that issue, can we get the place? I really like it, and I can see a life for us here. I know you can, too."

"I can," she admitted.

"Then let's do this," he said. Chris grasped her hands and gave them a squeeze. "We have one son here, a baby on the way, and we could make this house into a home. Can we please take a leap and have some faith that there will be a net to catch us? It'll all work out."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she reopened them, the worry had subsided, but the determination remained. "Chris, if these kids aren't 100% safe living in this house, I don't know what I'll do, but it won't be good."

"They _will_ be safe. Trust me, they will," Chris promised.

"You can't really go wrong with this house," Connie said. With a couple as talkative as Chris and Stephanie were with one another, she had to fit her opinion in wherever she could. Stephanie smiled warmly, and Connie carried on. "This large backyard is a great place for picnics, and you can even have them by the water, when adults are around, of course. Like your husband mentioned, the lake is wonderful for fishing and going out on rowboats. It can be a great thing for the children, as long as they're supervised."

"And you would feel comfortable living here if you had small children?" Stephanie questioned.

"I have a 5-year-old daughter, and I'd be happy to live in a place like this with her," Connie said. Stephanie did her best to read Connie, and her words rang true. Having the added reassurance was comforting. "As long as you're going to have the safety gates put in, like you said, I don't see an issue. Because you're a public figure, I think having a wall of some sort built around the entire property is a smart idea. You'll all be safe here, little ones included."

"So can we go for it?" Chris asked. He rocked on his heels and smiled widely at Stephanie, tipping his head from one side to the other to make her laugh. "Please, baby? I won't ask you to agree to anything else ever again."

Connie laughed at their jovial exchange as Graham joined in on the fun, running to Stephanie and hugging her around the waist. "We _have_ to live here, Mommy."

"Do we?" she asked him, playing along. He nodded. "And why is that?"

"Because I need a house like this, and so does Daddy, and so does my brother for when he's born," Graham said. He gave her a cheeky smile and his eyes lit up, prompting Stephanie to bend over and kiss his forehead.

"Alrighty, then," Stephanie said. She tugged Chris and Graham to her, and they held each other in a group hug for a moment. When they pulled away, she turned her attention to Connie. "We'll take it."

Connie smiled and clapped her hands together. "Sold!"

Getting Graham to sleep that evening was a chore in itself. He was giddy with excitement after their purchase of the new house, only a short way across town, and he was even more glad that he would still live close enough to continue attending Covington Elementary School. Chris and Stephanie had made it a point to search for homes in the general area of his school, because they knew how upset Graham would be, if forced to go somewhere else. He had already done the work to make friends with the kids in his class and the other boys on his football team, and the last thing they wanted to do was rip him away from that solid foundation.

When she climbed into bed, Stephanie brought the covers up to her chest, glancing idly around the empty room. She wasn't sure exactly which room in the house Chris had gone to, but she would be thankful when he made it to bed, because they needed to talk before turning in for the night. She busied herself with a movie on television, only breaking away from the action when Chris entered the bedroom. He smiled and walked up to Stephanie's side of the bed, giving her a sloppy kiss on the cheek that reminded her of the ones Graham usually dished out.

"I'm glad you're here," Stephanie said. She patted his side of the bed with her left hand. "Can you come lie down so we can talk?"

"Is everything okay?" Chris asked, growing nervous. "You're not regretting the decision to buy the house, are you?"

"No, it's not that. There's something else that has been in the back of my mind ever since I found out I was pregnant, but it's gotten pushed to the forefront, and I want us to get it out on the table."

"Okay," he said. Chris marched around to his side of the bed, wary of what she might say, but he climbed underneath the covers to join her, lying on his stomach and sliding his nearest arm across her midsection. He nodded his head off against her shoulder and closed his eyes while Stephanie stared straight down at his face, searching for the answers she needed. "What's up?"

"I wanted to talk to you about Graham's maternal grandparents," Stephanie said. Chris's eyes snapped open, and he frowned, watching her as if she had grown a second head right before his very eyes. "Why is that weird? I just want to know about them and figure out why they haven't been in the picture. You've met all of my family and a bunch of my friends, but I've never met Graham's other grandparents, and the one time I tried to ask you about them, you sort of shut me down. What gives?"

"They're a non-factor," he told her. He was blowing her off again, and Stephanie didn't like the feel of it. As her husband, even if she brought up a subject he didn't consider to be of great concern, he should have been willing to discuss it. He cleared his throat loudly. "They made their choices a long time ago, and it is what it is. That's all there is to it, and this discussion is over."

"But that's not fair."

"What's not fair?"

"When you ask me about myself, my past, my family, or anything in between, I gladly lay it all out for you," she said. "Up until now, you've always returned that favor, but you're blowing me off right now. You don't have to give me any details you don't want to include about your relationship with them. I just want to know why it is that they haven't reached out to you, to see Graham. I would think they would want to watch him grow up, being that their deceased daughter lives on in him."

"Well, they don't," Chris barked, lifting his head from her body and scooting away. "End of story."

"Why are you getting angry with me? If you have unfinished business and anger for them, then that's one thing, but it shouldn't make you treat me badly."

"How am I treating you badly?" he asked. Chris had moved all the way to his side of the bed and was looking at the television, but something told Stephanie he wasn't actually paying attention to the movie. There was only one place that his mind was. "You asked a question, I gave you an answer you didn't want to hear, and now you're bitching at me about it."

"Chris," she said, shaking her head in disbelief and rolling her eyes, "do you really not understand what you're doing right now? I asked you a simple question, and right away, you went on attack mode. If you don't want to talk about it, you can say that, but you're talking to me like I'm an annoyance to you or something, when all I did was ask a question."

"Fine, then I'm done talking altogether."

"Okay...so, are you ever going to let me know what went on with them and why they wouldn't want to be in the life of their own grandchild?" Stephanie asked. "Plus, what about Carly's brothers or sisters? I would think her siblings would want to see their nephew."

"Drop it."

"But I don't get why — "

Chris interrupted her, speaking through clenched teeth. "I asked you to drop it."

"Graham told me that side of the family blames you for Carly's death," she blurted out. The words had tumbled their way into existence before she could even consider stopping them. When Chris's eyes expanded and his skin went ashen, Stephanie knew she had done the wrong thing, but it was too late to take it back. Chris craned his neck to the left, then to the right, deliberately cracking the bones in his neck, like he was gearing up for some sort of battle.

In a dangerously low tone, he cut through the silence. "You went behind my back and asked our son about an adult issue?"

"I didn't mean to," Stephanie said. It was only when those words left her that she realized how silly they sounded. "I tried coming to you, but you wouldn't tell me anything, and I was so curious that I just asked Graham when the last time was that he saw his other set of grandparents. I never meant to go behind your back, but Graham had overheard some conversations between you and Carly's family, and he shared that information with me."

"How dare you talk to him about something like that. Graham is fragile, and if you even knew everything that went into this situation, you wouldn't be hurting him by talking about it. That's _not_ something you need to bring up in casual conversation with Graham. They hurt him, Stephanie!"

"I didn't know!" she cried out.

"Well, now you do," Chris said flatly. He climbed out of bed and stalked out of the room, slamming the bedroom door shut, upon his exit.

Stephanie settled in for a lonely night of sleep without her husband.


	7. From Darkness to Light

A/N: This chapter has been written for about five days now, but it was sitting on my computer because I wanted to review it first and make sure everything was in place. Thanks for always being so patient with me, even when I take a while getting around to updating. Enjoy!

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If there was one thing Stephanie didn't like, it was friction. She was a peacemaker at heart and always strove to maintain a balanced, loving household. Chris had taken the night to cool off from their encounter by doing a Houdini disappearing act and escaping from their bedroom, but the next morning had come calling, and Stephanie wasn't satisfied with allowing their fight to drag on any further. She left the bathroom after cleaning herself up, knowing she was pressed for time, since she had to make sure Graham was ready for school and that she was ready for work, but eliminating conflict with her husband came first. If only she could figure out where he was.

She scoured over the entire second floor, peeking her head into each bedroom, even the normally unused ones, to see if Chris was still fast asleep, but she had no luck. When she went downstairs, she found the sitting room and kitchen empty, and after lightly jogging to every other room she could think of, she had drawn only one conclusion: Chris had left home. She unlocked the side door in the kitchen and flipped the light switch on in the garage, and that was when she first saw it. One of their vehicles was gone. Her heart sank, and so did she, kneeling where she stood and pressing her back against the garage door, while wallowing in her self-pity.

She and Chris rarely had disagreements that became cause for concern, but even when they did, there was never any trouble making up. All it took was a few minutes of sulking by themselves before one of them would crack and see the other person's side of the situation. Stephanie found that to be her strong point. She didn't like to fight, and that meant she was usually the one to smooth over any rough patches she hit with her family or friends. Chris, on the other hand, tended to have his anger flare-ups and lose his temper every so often, but Stephanie was the bucket of water that snuffed out his flames, bringing him back down to earth and making him realize that fighting was never the answer.

She hovered over the floor for a while, so long that she lost track of time, no longer caring if she was running late. Her husband thought so little of her that he hadn't even cared to talk about what had happened the night before. As it stood, Stephanie still didn't quite understand exactly what she had done wrong, because Chris hadn't told her. He had only scolded her. The more the memory of their argument crept into her mind, the more she felt her frustration rising, like the levels of a tumultuous river during a thunderstorm. How dare he leave her alone to pick up the pieces of their mess.

With a renewed resolve, Stephanie pushed herself back up and returned upstairs. She slipped into her bedroom and locked the door, going about morning business as usual, which basically included showering and blow-drying her hair. She took her own sweet time sorting through the clothing hanging in her closet, finally deciding on a white dress, which also had a splash of black that ran from the entire length of her arms to her shoulders. She found a pair of strappy, black stilettos and paired them with her dress, gliding to her jewelry chest and selecting a necklace and a sparkling pair of diamond earrings to boot.

Her wedding ring glinted under the sunlight spilling in through the open blinds, but she blinked away the image, feeling her eyes welling up. Stephanie cleared her throat and steeled herself, grabbing her purse, work files, and everything else she would need for a successful day at Titan. Her heels thumped against the stairs as she walked down them, but she had only gotten to the halfway point when she noticed the television was on in the sitting room, and someone was on the couch watching it. It wasn't Graham; it was Chris. He didn't so much as give a single glance in her direction, and that was the final straw.

Stephanie could only make peace with Chris when he was putting forth equal effort of his own, and watching him bite at his nails so casually, with not a care in the world, she knew what she had to do. She glanced back up the stairs she had just climbed down, watching the landing to make sure Graham was nowhere in sight to hear their exchange. When she was certain he wasn't within earshot, Stephanie stomped the remainder of the way down the stairs, dropping everything in her hands to the sitting room floor. Chris didn't even jump at the noise, but he did peel his attention away from the television screen long enough to look at her. His expression was indifferent, but Stephanie wore a scowl.

"How nice of you to come back home," she said, using just the right hint of sarcasm. "I really do appreciate it."

"I went — " He tried to get a word in edgewise, but this was Stephanie's time to gripe.

"Why don't you stop talking for once and listen to me," she cut in. Chris closed his mouth and relented. He knew when not to cross his wife. "I apologized to you for going to Graham and talking to him about something that I shouldn't have brought up in the first place, but you can't just get mad at me for something that I'm curious about. If you didn't want to discuss that topic, then fine, you could have said that and we would have let it be, but you stormed out of our bedroom and took one of our cars out, without bothering to tell me where you were even going. I didn't know you were gone until I checked for you this morning."

"I wasn't gone for long."

"Stop lying to me," Stephanie demanded. She closed in on him, moving toward the couch in a huff and crossing her arms. "I checked every single room in the house this morning, looking for you, and you weren't anywhere to be found. I've been mad at you before, Chris, but I talk to you about what I'm feeling. I don't just take one of the cars, run off, and forget all of my responsibilities or the commitment we made to each other," she said, holding up her ring finger for demonstration. "This ring means something very important and special to me, and it should mean a lot to you, too, but apparently, it doesn't."

Chris pushed the television remote out of his lap, where it dropped with a dull thud onto the couch cushion, and he stood, turning slowly to face her. "I'm not comfortable with the insinuations you're making right now." He held his left hand up, displaying his own wedding band. "This ring means the world to me, and so do you. I love you, Stephanie, and it doesn't make me feel too hot that you would doubt that fact. I didn't go out for a long time, for your information, and the only reason I didn't tell you I was going is because you were still asleep when I checked. I slept on the couch in the movie room last night, and I woke up early this morning and took the car."

"And why would you have needed to take the car right away?" she questioned. "What was so pressing that you just _had_ to be away from me the first thing in the morning? You're scrambling to be away from me without even telling me what I did that was so wrong, and to be honest with you, you're making me feel like garbage."

She gulped down the hurt and turned away from him when she felt another wave of tears coming on. Chris's arms wrapped around her from behind, and her first instinct was to tug out of his grip, but he held her more firmly in place, waiting until she stopped struggling. Chris led her forward, one step at a time, until they entered the kitchen, where Graham was sitting at the kitchen counter, happily chowing down on pancakes as he watched a cartoon on television. Chris's lips brushed against Stephanie's right ear as he leaned in to offer his first real explanation of the morning.

"I didn't leave this morning to get away from you. I only left to get take-out breakfast, Steph," he said, a hint of humor coiled around his words. All it took was a single look at the dining room table for Stephanie to see that he was telling the truth. Several brown cartons of food were splayed out, and she even noticed a container of fresh-squeezed orange juice nearby. "I wanted to buy a good meal for you, Graham, and our little one."

Chris slipped his hand over her stomach, caressing the open space where her belly was finally beginning to peek through, and Stephanie spun around in his arms, hugging his midsection and hiding her face in his left shoulder. Chris rubbed her back and Graham turned around in his seat, having noticed that he was no longer alone in the kitchen. When he saw them standing there, Stephanie being held in Chris's arms, Graham dropped his fork and jumped off the stool, tearing over to them and hugging Stephanie's side. "Daddy, why is Mommy sad?"

"She's not sad, bud," Chris said. "We're just hugging."

"Why?"

"Because we love each other very much."

"Oh," Graham said. He accepted Chris's answer for what it was and returned to his seat, chomping down on a semi-crispy piece of bacon that had partially drowned in the sea of maple syrup on his plate. When Stephanie picked her head up, not until at least another couple of minutes had passed, Chris kissed the center of her forehead.

"I'm really sorry for the way I treated you last night," Chris admitted. He spoke lowly enough that Graham couldn't hear them over the program he watched. "It was wrong, and I know that. It's not fair for me to be angry with you and not even explain why I feel that way, but, to be honest, my anger wasn't even meant to be directed at you. I took it out on you, but it wasn't anything you did. It's just that particular situation, and I don't like talking about it, so when anyone brings it up, no matter who they are, I tend to lash out. It wasn't fair to you, and I'm sorry for that, but I wasn't scrambling to get away from you, babe, and I hate that you thought that. I didn't leave until this morning and, like I said, that was only so I could buy breakfast for us."

"That's nice to hear, but I think we need to talk a lot more. Or are you just going to leave me hanging?"

"No," Chris answered. "I don't want to leave you hanging anymore. I'm ready to talk, but we don't have long before we're going to be rushing out the door here. Will you sit at the table with me, if I make you a plate? You need to eat something, even if you only have a few big bites."

"Yeah, that's fine," Stephanie shrugged. She began to pull away, but Chris cupped her cheeks and brought his lips down hard on hers. Stephanie moaned without abandon, clawing at Chris's back as she tilted her head to deepen the kiss, sneaking her tongue between his lips and exploring his warm mouth. When they heard Graham's muffled laughter, they knew he had caught them in the act, because laughter was always his automatic reaction to seeing his parents kiss.

"Mommy and Daddy are in love," Graham said, laughing at his own comment.

Chris pulled away from Stephanie, planting a final peck onto the tip of her nose. He answered Graham aloud but looked Stephanie in the eye while he spoke. "You're right, kiddo. We're very much in love."

"We sure are," Stephanie agreed. She slipped her hand over Chris's left cheek, rubbing his skin with her thumb. She lowered her voice again, leaning in close. "I really don't want to brush everything that happened last night under the rug. Can we find someplace quiet to talk after we drop Graham off at school? If you don't want to tell me anything about Graham's grandparents, then that's fine, but you and I have some things we need to discuss outside of all that drama."

"I agree with you. Can we hash it out during lunch today?"

"That will work."

Fancy restaurants and gourmet cuisine weren't in the works for Chris and Stephanie when lunchtime rolled around. Instead, with a surprisingly pleasant winter day looming overhead, they made their great return to the same park where their romance had first begun, choosing a seat at the bench and table they secretly called their own, since it was their occasional make-out spot. The only thing left to do was carve their initials into the side of the table, but since they weren't lovesick teenagers, they opted out of that plan. Stephanie sat beside Chris, and he wrapped his arm around her back, staring blankly at the bag of food in front of them.

They had stopped at the delicatessen near their workplace, right on the corner, and picked up some sandwiches and soups, but neither had much of an appetite. Chris slid his hand over Stephanie's hip and gave it a squeeze. When she turned to him, he asked, "Do you want to start us off?"

She shrugged and pushed her hair back over her shoulders, so it would be out of her face. The breeze carried her locks loosely, and they flapped in the wind behind her. "I don't know what else to say. I wish you would just tell me what's going on. It's not like I'm going to judge you for whatever the situation is. I just want to know, as your wife, so I can be here to support you."

"You want to know what, exactly?" Chris asked. She sighed loudly and covered her face with both hands.

"I already told you," she said. "I wanted to know why Graham's maternal grandparents haven't bothered reaching out to him. He's a brilliant little boy, and I can't wrap my mind around the reason why anyone in his family wouldn't want to be an active part of his life. I was only trying to understand the situation, but it felt like you were attacking me last night. I asked one simple question and you were treating me like you didn't even want to be in the same room anymore. It hurt."

"I didn't mean to hurt you, so I want to apologize for that. I'm really sorry for making you feel bad," he said. Chris ran his fingers through her flowing hair and kissed the top of her head. "I wasn't trying to do that at all. There are some things I don't enjoy talking about, and I should have told you that from the beginning and saved us from an argument over what, essentially, amounts to nothing. I wasn't blowing you off because of anything involving you. It was more that I was irritated about that topic, and instead of telling you that, I turned the cold shoulder on you, as if you had done something wrong when you really hadn't. I'm sorry for that, Steph, and I mean it from the bottom of my heart."

"That's okay, but it's like, now what?" she wondered. "Are we any step closer to making progress, or are we going to forget about everything last night and pretend it doesn't exist? Because we can do that, but I don't think that's how a relationship should work. I should be able to come to you without having you bite my head off."

"I agree."

"Then will you talk to me? I won't jump to conclusions or claim that you should have handled the situation differently. I won't judge you at all, but can you please just open up? You tell me all the time that I'm Graham's mother in every single way."

"You _are_ his mother, and a damn good one, at that."

"If that's truly the case, shouldn't I be able to know what's going on with the other side of his family and determine whether or not things can be smoothed over?" she questioned. Stephanie looked Chris straight in the eye, not breaking their contact. "Don't I deserve the chance to make that decision when it concerns the life of my son?"

"You do."

She grabbed Chris's hand and swiped her thumb over his knuckles. "Then talk to me, sweetie. I'm begging you to talk to me. I won't take any action or try to reach out to that side of the family if you don't want me to, I swear, but will you at least let me know what the deal is?"

"Okay, so, Graham's maternal grandparents are Bill and Lynn Godwinn. They moved to Saskatchewan shortly after we lost Carly, in late 2002. They haven't seen Graham since around late 2005. When my mom started getting really sick, they came around to visit her, because they had built a relationship with her while Carly and I were married, so they wanted to be there in her time of need," Chris explained. Stephanie continued rubbing his hand, wanting him to remember she was there to support him. "After my mom passed, they went on this tirade against me, so I got sick of it and stopped bringing Graham around them. What they did to me when I lost my mom was almost the same thing they did when I lost Carly, and there was no excuse for it. It was unforgivable."

"I'm so sorry they hurt you," Stephanie said. She rubbed his scalp, near the back of his head, and began scratching lightly over the area to relax him. Some of the tension melted off of Chris's face at her touch, but she still made out a few leftover worry lines. "Can you tell me anything else about what happened? Does Carly have siblings?"

"She was an only child, just like me," Chris answered. "That was one of the things we bonded over when we first met, because we always wondered what it would be like to have siblings."

"Mm-hmm," Stephanie acknowledged. "Go on."

"I was a momma's boy, and that's the truth. To this day, if you were to ask my dad, he would tell you the same," Chris claimed. "I loved my mom to death, and I never would have done anything to hurt her. For anyone to imply that I was careless enough in my treatment of her to cause premature death is outrageous. I will never forgive them for what they said about me in the days following her death. I was _always_ there for my mom. How the hell could they have thought they had a right to come along and blame me for not taking good enough care of her?"

"That's wrong on so many levels."

"I loved my mom, and I loved Carly. I would have done anything for either of them."

"I believe that wholeheartedly. If your love for them was anything like the love you have for me and Graham, then I know you would have done everything you could to protect them."

"I did," Chris said, "and I got shit on for it. I got told that if I had tried harder, made more of an effort, they would both still be here. And here's my thing, Steph," he said. She nodded along while he composed his thoughts, so he could verbalize them in a coherent manner. "Even if you truly thought, deep down in your heart, that someone could have tried harder to keep their family member alive, would you ever voice that to them out loud? Even if, in your heart of hearts, you felt it was true, why would you ever say something like that to someone? They _had_ to know that would destroy me, but they didn't give a damn."

"I would never, ever go there with anyone," Stephanie said. "Nobody has a right to judge you for how you cared for your wife and mother. I've seen the way you treat the people you love, and I know you never would have let either of them go without a strong fight. I know that, Chris, and if anyone has suggested otherwise, then they have some deep-seated issues that they need to deal with within themselves. Anyone accusing you of being at fault for someone else's death is a pig, and they don't deserve your time or attention. I know you loved your mother and your wife, Chris. I know you did."

"I still do."

"I'm sure you do," she said. Her heart broke for him, for the pain she saw in his eyes, for the way his hands trembled each time he attempted to convince her he had loved those he lost. "Oh, sweetie, come here," Stephanie whispered. Chris pressed his face into her neck and sighed, breathing in the welcome scent of her perfume as she ran her hand over his hair and back. He smiled against her skin when her lips came down on his head a couple of times, leaving a pair of sweet kisses in their wake. "Everything will be okay. All problems will work themselves out in the end, even if it doesn't feel like it right now. I'll make sure everything that's wrong is made right."

"How?" he asked. His voice caught in his throat, and in that moment, Stephanie saw his vulnerability on a fuller scale. Chris tended to mask his past and present hurts, but there were those rare times when it couldn't be hidden. She had witnessed it for the first time when she found him in that Winnipeg coffee shop, then another time when she had traded lunch with him for a meal with Olivia instead, and now she was seeing it again. His heart was heavy, and it was her goal to lighten his burdens, even if she had to start carrying some of the weight on her own back.

"I wish I could answer that right now, but I don't think I can," she told him. "All I can do is promise you that I will never stop working. I won't stop fighting until we have a solution, even if that means a simple visit to Carly's parents so you can get the pent-up anger off of your chest, once and for all. I'll arrange a meeting with them, if that will help."

"I don't fucking want to talk to them. Not right now."

"Then we'll wait it out and see how you feel later," Stephanie said. She picked his head up from her neck, cupping his face in her hands, and when she smiled, he managed a small one as well, even though it was a little shaky and forced. "I'm always on your side, one-hundred percent, and nothing will ever change that. I was only curious about Graham's other grandparents because, with our marriage and the new baby coming, I thought you might want to update them on all the changes in your life, but if they've treated you this badly, then I wouldn't want you around them anyway."

"They hurt Graham in the process," Chris said. "They were in his life up until he was a toddler, so he doesn't have much memory of them, but he does have a little bit. He saw their pictures when he was around 6 or 7, and he kept asking me why we couldn't go visit them, and I had to be the one to explain that we weren't close to them anymore. He didn't understand why, and he still occasionally asks me about them and why he can't go visit his Gram and Gramps. That's what he used to call them."

"It's terrible that they could do that to a vulnerable child."

"I know. He deserves better than that," Chris said. "Their anger and everything else after Carly passed has always been directed at me, which is fine, because I'm an adult and I can handle it somewhat, but you don't mess with my son. Nobody hurts my kid and gets away with it. I don't care how much resentment they had for me, warranted or not, they still should have worked to maintain their relationship with their only grandchild. I don't know how they could do that and still look themselves in the mirror, and I also don't understand why they wouldn't want a place in Graham's life."

"I don't, either. The whole thing sounds ridiculous," Stephanie said. "They shouldn't be blaming you for what happened to Carly and to your mother, but to ramp it up to the next level and ignore Graham is more wrong than I can even say. I don't even know them, and that makes _me_ furious. I'm almost ready to find their house, knock on their door, and give them a strongly-worded piece of my mind."

"I see the pain in Graham's eyes when he talks about them. It's already bad enough that he lost his mother and grandmother within three years of each other, but to top it all off, he's been rejected by his grandparents. He asks me about them occasionally and every single time, without fail, he gets tears in his eyes. He's so young, and he doesn't understand. Hell, I'm an adult and I don't even understand, but it's so wrong that they would leave him in the dark like that. What the hell do they think that will do to his self-esteem and outlook, when his own grandparents won't even make an effort to be with him?"

"I can see that they're hurt by their daughter's death, but to blame you for that and take it out on Graham by association is beyond horrible. Now I feel even worse about bringing that subject up in front of Graham, because I would hate to think I stirred up any bad feelings inside of him," Stephanie said. She squeezed Chris's hands inside both of hers. "I hate that you're hurt and that Graham got hurt by this, too, and I want you to know how sorry I am. If I could change it and make all of the pain go away for both of you, I would do it in a heartbeat."

"I know you would," Chris said.

"Is there anything I can do to make it better?" she asked. "I'm willing to do anything, if you really need it. I want the best for you and for Graham."

"I want to leave it alone for now. We can revisit the issue later, I guess."

"Okay."

"And Steph?"

"Yep?"

"I meant it when I said I was sorry for taking my anger out on you last night," Chris apologized. "You didn't deserve for me to leave you alone in our bedroom, and I'm sorry for that. I didn't sleep well last night at all, so I guess that was my punishment for leaving. I was cold and shivering and restless without you. I'm just so used to feeling you right next to me. You keep me warm and cozy."

"I was the same way without you. I tossed and turned all night long, but I didn't come after you, because I felt like I needed to give you your space."

"I guess I'll always need you, huh?"

"I like to think that you will, but rest assured knowing that I'll always be here," she answered. Stephanie kissed Chris's temple and began unloading their food from the bag, handing Chris his sandwich and container of hot soup. "I can understand if you don't have much of an appetite right now, but you should really try to eat something. Things will work themselves out, I promise."

"Enough about that," Chris said, waving the situation off. "I've been so wrapped up in my own head that I haven't even been able to check on you and our baby. How are you guys doing?"

"I'm great, and so's the baby. I'm somehow managing to evade morning sickness for the time being, so that's good," she said, nudging Chris in the arm. "I hope I don't jinx myself, but this pregnancy has been really easy so far. I want it to stay this way."

"I'll keep my fingers and toes crossed for you."

Stephanie nodded in the direction of his untouched lunch. "Thank you. Now eat your food."

"Yes, Mother."

"Smartass," she grumbled under her breath, which got a snicker out of Chris.

At last, normalcy was coming back around.


	8. The Family That Stays Together

A/N: Thanks for continuously coming back for more, and also, for loving this story just as much as I do. Have a great (and safe!) Memorial Day tomorrow, everyone! ;)

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Stephanie had made a habit of checking for belly growth in the mirror each morning. When her alarm clock sounded, she headed straight into the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face, then the time came to do a belly check. She followed the same routine each time, grabbing the bottom edges of her nightgown and tugging it up and over her body, until her entire abdomen was exposed. Her eyes would fall into a focused squint, and she would study her stomach for as long as it took to convince herself she saw progress and that she _was _getting bigger.

On Saturday morning, she slept in late, a rare treat in itself. Her eyes didn't open until half past eleven, but when she was awake enough to be aware of her surroundings, Stephanie rushed to the bathroom. She followed her self-assigned protocol, lifting her cotton sleepwear and tucking the lower hem of her nightgown under her chin to hold it in place. She stood there for a while, analyzing her belly from all angles, and that was how Chris found her a couple of minutes after her intense study had begun.

He laughed right away at her poised concentration, all while hurrying to the toilet. Chris faced the bowl and began undoing his belt buckle, pushing his jeans down after navigating the button and zipper. Stephanie glanced at him, and he shrugged sheepishly. "Sorry, but I really have to piss."

"And you came all the way up here to do that?" she asked. By that time, each of Stephanie's hands had shifted to her belly, and she rubbed the area in slow circles. "Not that I mind, really, but there are plenty of bathrooms downstairs, love."

"I know, but I came up here with a bigger purpose. This is just a pit stop," Chris answered. He pulled his pants back up after relieving himself and flushed the toilet. Chris waited until he had washed his hands to engage Stephanie in conversation again, since it was difficult to talk over the sound of running water. By the time he dried his hands on their hanging towel, she had lowered her nightgown and was leaning against the bathroom counter, watching him purposefully.

"And what purpose is that?" she asked.

Taking a running start, Chris used his socks to glide across the floor to Stephanie, and she laughed into his chest as he circled both arms around her waist. "I have a surprise for you, and it's a doozy."

"Really?" Stephanie picked her head up from his chest and hitched an eyebrow. "Don't leave me hanging."

"Do you remember a long time ago when we sat in bed and talked, and you told me you wanted to go to a concert with me? It was right around the time when we first thought you had gotten pregnant, right before we found out it was a false alarm. Remember?"

"I think so, yeah," she said. All it took was a single look in his eyes for hers to shine with the same brimming elation. She signaled with her hand for him to continue. "All right, let's hear it. What are you up to? Are we going to a concert together, because I would love to go, but not if there's a crazy crowd. That might be fine when I'm not carrying our child, but I am, and I don't want the baby in any danger."

Chris picked a tendril of Stephanie's hair at random and twirled it around his finger. He did that a lot when toying with her. "I'm not taking you to a concert while you're pregnant — not that we couldn't go, but I agree that it would be better to wait. Anyways, I was searching on my laptop for an outing that you and I could go on a little while after you have the baby, just so that we can get some alone time in. We're probably going to need it, with an infant on our hands. I came across this website announcing that tickets will be on sale soon for a concert that's set to happen next summer."

"When, exactly?"

"Next August."

"Oh, so we have time," Stephanie said, visibly relaxing. "Which concert is it?"

"We have lots of time, yes, and it's a gig in Long Beach for Slayer and Megadeth. I was thinking we could go and have our first rock concert together, just like you wanted. You down?"

"Of course I'm down for that!" she said, doing a little dance in his arms. "You've introduced me to so many cool bands since we've been together. I'm really looking forward to this, and I mean it. Graham is definitely going to want to come."

"Actually..." Chris said, trailing off. All it took was a slight pause and tip of his head for Stephanie to predict where he was headed next. He grasped each of her hands. "We're going to have a three-month-old baby by the time we go to this concert, and I'm sure we'll be tired from the chaos of caring for a newborn. I was thinking this could be a fun night out for _us_, just you and me. We can plan something special for Graham, too, but I want us to do our own little thing. My parents can watch the kids."

"Or my parents, if your parents are busy that night. I'm sure they would volunteer."

"Either way works for me."

"I feel guilty about Graham, though. He doesn't like to be away from us, and I don't want him to feel left out or forgotten about."

"He'll understand," Chris promised. He rubbed up and down Stephanie's upper arms, trying to warm her body and make her feel better. "Parents have to get away sometimes, and that's just the way it is. Besides, Graham is getting better about being away from us. He actually goes to his friends' houses now, which is a hell of a lot of progress, compared to how he was last year. He's not so timid anymore."

"Speaking of my honeybee, where is he?" Stephanie asked. She smiled at the thought of him. "Is he eating breakfast downstairs?"

"He's not here right now. I brought him to Malachi's house."

"Malachi?" Stephanie asked, frowning as she stared into the distance. "That name doesn't ring any bells for me, and I know almost all of his friends and their parents."

"It's one of his newer friends. They're wanting to take karate together, outside of school, so I'm checking around for martial arts classes that I can sign Graham up for."

"And Graham's over at his house right now?" she wondered, deep crinkles forming in the open space between her eyes. "Did the parents seem nice? I don't feel too comfortable leaving him inside a house full of people we don't really know all that well."

"Will you please stop worrying?" he pleaded. "Steph, I went inside the house and sat for a while so I could talk to the parents. They're good people, Malachi was a nice and respectful kid, and Nathan is over there with them, too. A couple of Graham's other friends even showed up after we got there, so they're having a little gathering. I wouldn't leave him any place where I didn't think he was safe."

"I trust your judgment," she said, though still wary.

Chris kissed the tip of her nose, and his hands trailed down to her stomach. Stephanie's eyes softened as he massaged her belly, and when she puckered her lips, Chris brought his mouth down firmly on hers. He pulled away smiling. "Our kiddo is fine with his friends, I promise. Now, how's my other baby doing?"

"He or she is doing very well. I keep getting these cool sensations," Stephanie told him. She covered his hands with hers and grinned. "I can feel that a little person is inside me, and it's scary and exciting all at once. I get a butterflies-in-the-stomach sensation all the time and these little flicks that I can feel from the inside, but it's all so subtle. I wish I could get one strong kick out of them. Just one kick, and that would make me thrilled."

"It'll come anytime now, I'm sure," Chris said. "You're four months along, so we're going to start seeing some action soon. Can I give my baby kisses?"

"Of course. You don't ever have to ask."

"Thanks, angel," he replied. Chris gave her a peck on the lips and knelt on the bathroom floor. She lifted her nightgown once more, and when her midsection was showing, Chris placed his hands on her warm skin, reveling in the sight of her growing tummy. Her physical progress was gradual, as it hadn't been obvious up until a few weeks prior that she was pregnant at all, but in recent days, she had begun to expand. "Good morning, baby," he said, speaking directly to her stomach. Stephanie gazed lovingly at Chris, running her fingers through his hair. "It's a beautiful day, and I can't wait until you're out here with us so we can show it to you. You're always on my mind, and I'm always thinking of you, even though I can't see you yet. Come to us safe and healthy in May."

He punctuated his final statement by kissing Stephanie's belly button, which had popped soon after she had begun growing with their unborn child, although she still had a long way to go. When Chris stood, she took his face in her hands, and they stood there for a while, kissing and holding each other and generally enjoying the quiet. She was first to break the agreeable silence. "When you first walked in here, I was trying to see if I had gotten any bigger."

"I figured as much," Chris said, nuzzling her neck.

"Do you think I've grown?"

He pulled away slightly, placing his hand over her stomach. He studied her figure for a moment. "You look about the same to me, but I'm sure you'll get bigger soon. Remember how your mom was telling us that she barely looked pregnant with Shane at first, but then she just blew up one day? I bet that will happen to you, too."

"Probably."

"All in due time, my love," Chris said. He motioned for her to leave the bathroom, and he followed her out, flicking the light switch off and dropping onto the bed beside her. He slid his arm around Stephanie's shoulders and placed his other hand on her stomach. "Don't rush yourself. I know this is your first time being pregnant and you're eager to see a huge belly poking out in front of you, but it will all come when it's meant to."

"You're absolutely right."

Switching gears, Chris asked, "When do Amanda and Caylie get here?"

"Early next month, and I'm so excited!" Stephanie answered. She clapped her hands in front of her chest and beamed from one ear to the other. "We've been apart for so long that I just want to kiss them and hug them as soon as they walk through the door. Especially Amanda. She's been one of our biggest supporters from the beginning, ever since we decided to be together, so I'm glad to include her in this phase of our lives."

"Me too. Caylie's gotten so big in the pictures I've seen, so that's going to be a really special day for all of us, just to see how they've grown since they've been gone. We have a lot to do during these next few months," Chris said, thinking about all their commitments. "My dad wants to move into a small place here, and I was trying to figure out if he wanted to live in the apartment I got with Graham for that short while, but the lease is about to run out, so we may as well find him another place."

"We'll find him a different place, yeah," she agreed. "Besides, I almost want to extend the lease for us and keep that apartment for a while longer. It's special and holds so much meaning for me, and for both of us, really. That was the place we went to make love for the first time, and I'll never forget that night or how incredible you made me feel."

"I won't forget, either," he replied. Chris kissed the top of her head, cupping her left cheek in the process. "Maybe you and I should spend a night in that apartment before the lease is up, just the two of us, so we can come to terms with getting rid of it. It would give us a chance to say our goodbyes to it, if that makes sense."

"It does."

"Good," Chris laughed, patting her cheek lightly. "Well, let's get ourselves ready to go. We have errands to run, then we have to pick Graham up, then we have pictures to take at sunset. The photographer is going to be waiting for us at the park, so we need to be on time."

"I want to pick Graham up a little early from his friend's house," Stephanie said. Chris gave her a look, thinking she was still nervous about Graham's visit to an unfamiliar home, but she had other plans in mind. "I need to bring him back here and get him ready. I have his cute little outfit all picked out, and I want him to be clean and have his hair styled. We also have to round up Freddy and bring him to the park with us, so he can be in the pictures, too."

"Freddy's chillin' downstairs," Chris said. "He was lounging on the couch with me this morning while I watched some TV."

"Oh, good. Did you feed him?"

"Graham did, when he first woke up this morning."

"Sounds like we're on top of everything, then," Stephanie said, rising from the bed. "I'll call the photographer and make sure we're still set for this afternoon, and I'll probably give Graham a call and let him know when to start preparing to come home. Can you swing by and pick him up for me, so that I'll have time to get myself ready before I get to work on him?"

"Say the word, whenever you're ready for him to be home, and I'll head out."

"Thanks, hon."

A frantic breeze ripped through the park and turned the tree leaves into a shivering mass of green, red, and gold. Soon enough, the winter storms would hit, and snow would ravage the woodlands, bringing the vibrant foliage to its untimely demise and delivering several inches of snowfall to their icy roads. Radiation from the sprightly sun would be their only heat source, at least for the duration of their photo shoot, and it was enough to keep the harshness of the wind at bay. The smile couldn't be wiped from Graham's face as he trekked across the grass with Freddy in his arms.

Chris was a few paces ahead, speaking vividly with their photographer, Ana, and laughing it up as they pointed across the park. They were deciding on the perfect spot to get started on the pictures, but all Stephanie could do was sneak glances at her family's clothing, making sure it was still in place and clean. She had washed Graham's hair at home and assigned Chris the role of styling his blond tufts with mousse and gel products. The end result was slightly spiked hair, similar to Chris's everyday style, and she loved that Graham would look just like his father in the pictures.

It was astounding to think that in a matter of months, they would be returning to the park for family outings with a baby, but Stephanie's major life changes were becoming all the more real each day. Chris turned back briefly, to check on Stephanie and Graham. When he noticed them falling behind, Graham struggling to hold onto his rambunctious kitten while Stephanie held her stomach and gazed into the sky, he backtracked, promising Ana that they would catch up with her soon. She forged ahead to reach the spot she and Chris had decided on for pictures, and Stephanie jumped in fright, nearly stumbling when Chris slipped his hand unexpectedly over hers.

"You okay?" he asked. His eyes sparkled humorously, like he knew he had caught her in the middle of her daydreams and was glad about it. "You had that dreamy look on your face, almost like you were sleeping with your eyes open."

"Is that even possible?"

"I don't think so. I was only trying to make a point."

"If you say so," she laughed.

Chris gave her hands a squeeze and placed his free hand on the small of her back, propelling her forward. "You can follow Ana over to that bank of water near the trees. We're going to take pictures over there while the sunset's in full swing, but I'm going to run over and help Graham. It looks like Freddy is trying to make an escape from him."

"Uh-oh," Stephanie said, when she looked over. Graham was holding Freddy's upper half while the rest of his body hung down below, as he struggled to escape Graham's grip. Freddy was attached to Graham beyond belief, but he had never been in a park as large as the one they were at, and the need to explore had likely fed into his burning desire to roam freely.

"Daddy, he's falling!" Graham called out.

"I see. I'm coming, bud!" Chris called back. That quickly, he was gone from Stephanie's side, jogging to Graham so he could get a hold on Freddy and carry him the rest of the way. Stephanie smoothed her floral print dress over her body and fussed with her hair. They were all rejoined as a group a minute later, and Ana held her camera to her chest, smiling at the family as they assembled in the grass.

"How do you think we should begin?" Stephanie asked. "Should we get the boys together first for some shots, then I can join in later?"

"Any order that you prefer to go in is fine," Ana said. "I'm here for you guys and to make sure this goes off perfectly, so whatever you decide, I'm here for you. I'll adjust to whatever you guys want. You're calling all the shots today, but make sure to work quickly, or we'll lose the sunset."

"Wait, I get to make all of the decisions? I _knew_ I loved her," Stephanie said, while pointing at Ana. The women and Chris all laughed, and Graham joined in with the adults, simply to be a part of the fun. Stephanie noticed Graham standing beside Chris, and her gaze was immediately led to Freddy, positioned comfortably in Chris's arms. "Why don't we do this: Graham, go sit beside that tree over there and take some pictures with Freddy."

"But what about you and Daddy?" Graham wondered. "You have to be in the pictures, too."

"We will a little later on, but for right now, I'd really love some shots with just you and Freddy. Will you do it for me?" Stephanie asked. She clasped her hands in front of her chest and pouted. That usually worked when she wanted to get her way. Graham remained uncertain, but he gave in, giving her a silly grin.

"Okay, I will," he agreed.

"Thanks, pumpkin," Stephanie said.

She led him to the tree and showed him where to stand while Chris clued him in on a few casual poses he could do. When they were certain Freddy wasn't going to bolt and take a trip around the entire park, they placed him down, and he curled up at the foot of the tree, which worked out well for the shot. Ana snapped a few pictures, one with Graham's back against the tree and his arms crossed as he smiled. She got another photo of Graham kneeling down beside Freddy, each of his elbows propped on his knees, and his chin resting on his balled fists.

The even flow continued, as they switched off and took pictures in a number of combinations: Chris with Graham, Stephanie with Graham, Chris with Stephanie, Stephanie with Freddy, all five of them together, and so on. Chris and Stephanie were able to hover over Ana's shoulder and view some of the finished shots on her camera screen, but they wouldn't be able to actually sort through the digitized photos on a computer until they received their disk, which would take a few days. They bid farewell to Ana and piled back into their SUV, each of them falling into lively chatter as they raved over their excitement to view the finished product. The not-so-patient wait was on.

Freddy climbed into Graham's lap about halfway through the ride home, and he curled up there, closing his eyes to get some rest while Graham stroked his back. Stephanie glanced in the backseat to check on them when conversation died down, and her eyes softened. "Freddy loves his Grammy so much."

"Freddy likes me because I take care of him, and I'm nice to him, and we're like friends. We can't talk to each other, but we could still be friends, so I think I'm his friend," Graham rambled. "Do you think Freddy knows what I say?"

"He doesn't understand our words, but he understands your actions, and every time you do something nice for him, he appreciates it. You can't show him how much you care just by talking to him, because he doesn't speak our language, but when you pet him, or feed him, or play with him, that lets him know that you're his friend," Stephanie said. "I'm sure he loves you very much for that."

"Freddy's the best. Remember when you took Freddy out of a trash can, Mommy?"

"I could never forget. That was a sad day, wasn't it, baby?"

"Yep," Graham agreed.

"Seeing him so cold and lonely in that trash can wasn't a good thing, but we took him out and brought him home, so that part of it was nice," she said. Chris stopped at a red light and smiled over at her as she continued on her train of thought. "You and Freddy have been through a lot together, and I know you'll be friends for life. When the baby comes, are you going to teach them how to take care of a kitty?"

"I will," Graham promised. "I will teach them all the good things, and I'll tell them not to do any bad things."

"That would be very nice of you," Stephanie praised, facing forward in her seat once more. "I'm so proud to be your mom, Graham, and I'll be just as proud when the baby comes. My family is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. All of you are the biggest loves of my life."

The light turned green, Chris pressed gently on the gas while sliding his hand onto Stephanie's thigh, and Stephanie leaned against the headrest and closed her eyes. Her life was full of green lights, pressing and urging her forward each second of every day. This was the time for taking chances, for leaping without a net but having faith that one would appear when needed the most, and so that's what she did. Each day that brought her closer to being a mother for the second time, giving her the green light to go full speed ahead, she took the harrowing leap of faith to live up to her challenges as a parent.

With the help of her husband and son, she would conquer the tests of strength and love, always and forever.


	9. One of Few Surprises

A/N: Thanks for reading. Enjoy Payback tonight! I know I will... :D

* * *

Stephanie extended her legs and placed her feet in Chris's lap so he could tug off her slip-on, sheepskin boots. Left in a pair of socks, she lay back on the examination table and placed her covered feet in the stirrups. Dr. Reid was at her side with a bottle of gel and, just as she had the last time, she warned Stephanie that it might be cold against her skin. She nodded, reaching out for Chris's hand, and he stood and held hers attentively, running his thumb along her knuckles as she cringed at the frigid temperature of the gel.

"Today's the big day," Dr. Reid said, rubbing her hands together. She picked up the ultrasound wand and ran it over Stephanie's exposed belly, watching the computer screen closely. "Are we finding out the sex of the baby?"

"No, we wanted to wait," Stephanie blurted, then she remembered herself, smiling bashfully at Chris. "Actually,_ I_ wanted to wait, and Chris is supporting me in waiting, even though he initially wanted to find out."

"We can certainly keep the gender quiet for now," she said. "Let me know if either of you change your mind."

Dr. Reid smiled as she worked, which Stephanie took as a positive sign that all was well with their unborn child. Even though she was a bundle of nerves, Stephanie could hardly wait to meet her baby and, in a way, seeing them as a vague speck on that fuzzy computer screen was meeting enough. As she scanned over each of the major organs to check for proper development, Dr. Reid pointed out where everything was, starting with the baby's head and ending with their thumping heart. Stephanie's eyes watered involuntarily at the beautiful sight of her child's heart, along with its resounding beat pulsing through the room, and she covered her mouth with her free hand as a lone tear trickled down her cheek.

Since Chris had arranged for a 3-D ultrasound, they were able to see the baby's entire face and their curled up fists, each of which framed their face. Dr. Reid made sure to work around the baby's body in such a way that the gender wouldn't accidentally be revealed, and she talked them through what she was seeing. "Everything looks great. They're growing to be nice and strong in there, and we have a solid and steady heartbeat, which is always a great thing."

"You can tell what sex they are?" Chris wondered.

"I surely can," Dr. Reid said. "I've got a very clear answer."

"Aw, damn it," Chris cringed, scratching the back of his head. When he noticed both of the women's attention on him, he sighed. "Sorry, it's nothing."

"You want to find out, don't you?" Stephanie asked.

"If I'm being honest, yeah," Chris replied. "It's so tempting, and it would help us to plan the nursery and decorations a little better if we could know."

Stephanie brought her hand to her cheek, squinting as she fell into deep thought. She licked her lips and turned to the screen, shrugging. "I don't know what to say. I don't want to keep you from finding out if that's what you really want, because I don't think it's fair for me to make that decision for you, but I really don't want to know yet."

"Can I find out and not tell you?" Chris asked.

"I considered that, but what if you slip-up and refer to the baby as a 'he' or 'she'?"

"I'll be careful, I swear."

"You promise? Because I really don't want to know ahead of time, sweetie," Stephanie said, drilling the message home. There were few genuine surprises she had to look forward to in life, and the gender of her baby was one of them. She would find it difficult to forgive Chris if he were to slip and tell her the gender, even if it _were_ an accident. "Can't we just wait? It's only a matter of months before we find out, anyway."

"What about a compromise, though?" Chris suggested. "Can't we settle on something that will make both of us happy?"

"Like what?"

"We already decided that we're having more kids in the future, so can't we find out the sex on this pregnancy, then keep the next one a secret?"

"We're already in the process of this one, though, and we've already chosen to keep the baby's gender a secret. We may as well continue on with it this way for now, then we'll find out the gender next time. I don't want to know, and I'm scared that if you find out, it will somehow get back to me inadvertently. If you go to your dad and tell him, he might tell Graham, and if Graham gets a piece of information like that, he _will_ slip. I know our son, and I promise you that he would slip and tell me what the baby is. That's exactly what I don't want to happen."

"Okay," Chris said. Dr. Reid wore a soft smile while she glanced between them during their friendly debate. She raised a questioning eyebrow at Chris, as if to ask how he wanted to proceed. "My wife's the one carrying the baby and doing all the hard work, so if she doesn't want to know the sex and she prefers for me not to find out either, I'm not going to find out. I want to respect her wishes."

"So sweet," Stephanie said. She puckered her lips and squeezed his hand. "Thanks, hon. I promise that since you're being so nice and cooperative this time, we'll find out the baby's sex right away next time. You have my word."

"Good deal. Love you," Chris responded.

Her eyes softened. "I love you more."

Stephanie was late to work on that morning but had already gotten her absence cleared with her father. Vince knew she had an appointment, and he expected all the latest details about the baby, which she would gladly deliver to him when there was a break in the work day. Since they had rushed to work after leaving the doctor's office, Chris stopped to purchase a drive-thru breakfast along the way, and he had left Stephanie in her office with a ton of food, a bottle of water, and a carton of milk. He had ordered just about one of every single thing off the menu so Stephanie would have a variety and be able to choose whatever she wanted to eat.

For the first five minutes of her work day — after Chris had dropped her off and left her alone inside her office, following a steamy parting kiss — she stared at the plastic bag, filled to the max with food. A smile crept stealthily across her face, which turned into a light chuckle, which blossomed into full-blown laughter. Her body quaked against her desk and she covered her mouth to muffle the giggles, but the torrent welled and another wave came forth. Chris had his crazier moments of doting on her, but she couldn't possibly have chosen a more fitting person to spend the rest of her life with. It wasn't so bad being with someone who loved her enough to buy her a mound of food, all so she could choose exactly what she wanted.

Stephanie sorted through the breakfast sandwiches, eventually choosing an egg and bacon wrap, and she took small bites from it while she worked from her company laptop, sipping her milk through a straw along the way. No sooner had she finished up her breakfast than her cell phone rang out loud. Wiping her hands on a paper napkin, Stephanie picked her phone up and saw that Graham was buzzing in, which concerned her, because he didn't typically call her from school. She cleared her throat and answered the call, expecting the best but bracing herself for the worst.

"Hi, baby. Is everything okay?" she asked. Stephanie could make out light chatter in the background, which she assumed were the voices of his classmates.

"I gotta tell you somethin', Mommy," Graham blurted. His voice was slightly muffled, as if he were holding the phone a little too close to his mouth.

"What's the matter? Were you being good in class?"

"Yep, I was, but I have to tell you somethin' else. My friend got a new puppy, and I just found that out today, and so I think we should get one, too."

The relief was instantaneous and washed over Stephanie like fresh rainwater during a drought. She silently berated herself for not having more faith in Graham. He was a well-behaved, smart child, and she should have known better than to think he would suddenly begin having behavioral issues in school. The only time his teachers called home was when they were singing his praises, and it was refreshing to know that hadn't changed.

"I see," she answered, after a slight pause. "Well, that certainly isn't a bad idea, but we all need to sit down and talk about this as a family. Pets are a lot of work, Graham, as I'm sure you've already seen, with having to take care of Freddy, and a puppy is only going to add to your list of responsibilities. Are you sure you're ready for that?"

"I can do it," Graham said, sounding completely sure of himself. "I know I can, and I really want a puppy."

"Okay, we'll have to discuss it, then. I'll let you go for now, only because I don't want you to miss any class time, but when we're all at home together tonight, we'll talk to Daddy and see what he has to say about it, okay?"

"M'kay."

"All right, good deal. Was there anything else you needed from me?"

"Nope, that's it."

"Go ahead and get to class, and we'll talk more about this at dinner tonight. I'll be by to pick you up after football practice. I love you."

"Love you, too," Graham said, returning the sentiment.

"And I'm so glad for that. See you later, pumpkin."

"Bye," he said. She waited to hear the click before returning her cell phone to her desk.

All day, Stephanie struggled to focus, her thoughts dividing themselves between two distinct subjects: the baby and Graham. She thought about a lot that day, about whether a new puppy could be a nice addition to the family, and even about how the rest of her pregnancy would go. In a sense, Stephanie was waiting for the other shoe to drop, wondering when she would finally begin feeling the more negative physical effects of pregnancy. Aside from multiple run-ins with indigestion and occasional nausea, she had fared well during her pregnancy, but she could only guess how much longer her luck might run.

Chris returned at lunchtime to pick Stephanie up in her office, and he came with an invitation directly from Vince. The patriarch of the McMahon family wanted Chris, Stephanie, and Graham to join him and Linda for dinner at their house that evening, and Stephanie agreed to it, but not without contacting Sara to let her know she had the night off from cooking. The day was long and her work a tad tedious, but afternoon finally rolled around, and since Chris had to stay a little late for work, Stephanie left by herself to pick Graham up from school. Chris had called along the way to let her know he was getting a ride with Vince, so she drove straight to her parents' house on the way back from school.

By the time they arrived, Vince and Chris had already beat them there, and before Graham could extend his finger to ring the doorbell, the front door swung open, with an upbeat Chris on the other side. Graham reached out to hug him. "Daddy!"

"Hey, I missed you today," Chris greeted. He patted Graham's shoulder and rubbed his hair. "I mean, I miss you every day, but especially today. Mommy and I went to the doctor this morning, and we got very good news about the baby. He or she is very healthy, and we're glad about that."

"Mommy told me already when we were driving here," Graham said. He shrugged his jacket off when he stepped inside the house, and Chris tugged Stephanie inside by the hand. After closing the front door, he pressed Stephanie against it, giving her a long, hard kiss that made her toes curl inside her shoes. Graham went up behind Chris and yanked on the edge of his shirt. "Is the baby a boy or a girl, Daddy?"

Chris managed to pull himself away from Stephanie, who was biting the corner of her bottom lip and gazing into his eyes hungrily. He cupped her cheek, swishing his thumb over her skin a few times and releasing her. He sent her a wink and a whispered promise to pick up where they left off later, and she was content with that. Chris slipped his arm over Graham's shoulders while Stephanie disappeared into the kitchen. He followed the path she had taken, falling a few paces behind with his son.

"We're not finding out whether the baby is a boy or a girl until they're born, because Mommy wants it to be a surprise, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Graham said. After a couple more seconds, he tipped his head quizzically. "Why does she want that? I want to find out now, now, _now_!"

Chris fell into easy laughter, rubbing the top of Graham's arm. They entered the kitchen, and Stephanie was already seated at the table with Linda, showing her the latest 3-D ultrasound images of their unborn child while they spoke in excited voices. Finding Graham still waiting on him for an answer, Chris knelt in front of him. "This is the way Mommy wants it, buddy, so we have to respect that. We want Mommy to be happy, right?"

"I do," Graham answered.

"I know you do, and I do, too, which is why we're waiting. Real men always make sure to keep the important women in their lives happy, because that's what you do when you truly love a woman," Chris explained. His words weren't meant to be showy or impressive, but he happened to look up and found both Linda and Stephanie smiling at him, watching their exchange through softened eyes. Graham mulled over his father's words for a moment and nodded when he had an understanding of them. Chris kissed his cheek and led him over to Linda. "Say hello, Graham."

"Hi!" Graham exclaimed. He waved at Linda and fell into her arms, giving her a big hug.

"Hi, sweetie. You look so cute today," Linda complimented. When Graham pulled away, she readjusted his shirt collar. "What a wonderful outfit. Did you pick this out all by yourself?"

"No," he said, shaking his head. He pointed across the table at Stephanie. "Mommy picked my clothes this morning, because she says I have so many nice clothes that I don't wear, and she wants me to start wearing 'em."

"That's right," Stephanie said. "You wouldn't believe all the nice things he has in his closet that he never pulls out. I went searching for something new for him to wear, and I found all sorts of things. Some of them even still had the tags on."

"I called Mommy from school today!" Graham blurted out, without warning.

"What about?" Chris wondered.

Graham started to answer, but Stephanie playfully shushed him, bringing her index finger to her mouth. "Shh! Not yet, sweetie. I wanted to wait until after dinner. You didn't give me a chance to soften Daddy up to the idea."

"The idea of what?" Chris asked. Now they had him curious, between Graham's darting eyes and Stephanie's self-conscious smirk. "Somebody had better start talking."

"I guess that's my cue, then," Stephanie said. Graham rested his head on her shoulder, and she patted his back. "Graham called me today because one of his friends just got a new puppy, and he wanted to know if we could get a puppy, too. I thought a lot about it at work today, and there are a few reasons that I don't think it's such a bad idea. It would be a lot more work at first, but the work would even itself out with all the good things that come from it."

"He's already got Freddy, and he struggles to even take care of him sometimes," Chris pointed out.

"I do not!" Graham said, picking his head up and crossing his arms. He stared at the kitchen floor with a set of crinkles in his brow, and Stephanie kissed his cheek for encouragement.

"You're a little hard on Graham, though," Stephanie said. "He does well with Freddy, especially for his age. Freddy is a family pet, so there's no reason Graham should be caring for him alone. That's why I help out whenever I can, and I think it should be the same if we get a puppy. Everyone can lend a hand."

"I don't see why we need an extra pet in the house right now," Chris said. He pulled out a chair and took a seat at the table, briefly wondering where Vince had disappeared to. "One cat is already more than enough, and we have a new baby on the way. Plus, we have a huge move that we're going to be making as soon as the wall is built around our new house, and on top of that, we still have to find a place for my dad and Amy to live. We're bogged down as it is without another pet running through our house. That's a lot of responsibility."

"I understand, love, but don't you want the kids to grow up with a pet that they can call their own?" Stephanie asked. "If you think about it, not only will Graham grow up with the puppy, but the baby will grow up with them, too, and they'll form an attachment and a bond. Besides, the added responsibility is a good thing, because how else are Graham and the baby going to learn how to keep the house clean and feed another living being? They need that type of structure and discipline, and I want that for them. Didn't you grow up with a pet that you had throughout your whole childhood?"

"Well...no," Chris admitted, tucking his chin bashfully.

"Oh, so no wonder you have such a negative stance on this," Stephanie laughed. She looked at Graham and ran her hand over his hair, smiling when his eyes met hers. "Graham has been nothing short of sweet and amazing with Freddy, and could he be a little better about watching after Freddy or cleaning his messes? Sure, he could, but we could be better, too, Chris. We should all be in this together, and I'm willing to help him take care of another pet if you'll come on board with me. Only good things can come from this."

"Plus, dogs are very protective when you bring a new baby into the house," Linda stated. "They really are. We had a puppy named Buster for a short while, and when I brought Shane home from the hospital, he used to cuddle with him and watch over him. He would even whine whenever Shane started crying, and he would come paw at my feet until I went to pick Shane up out of his crib. Dogs treat babies almost like their own, in a sense."

"They do. I've seen it before with some of my friends and their kids. Their dogs love their babies," Stephanie said. "Plus, I grew up with dogs in the house, and it was one of the greatest experiences ever. I just want Graham and the baby to have what I had. Will you at least think about it, sweetie?" she asked, batting her eyelashes at him. "Please?"

"Yeah, please?" Graham joined in.

Chris swiped a hand over his face and sighed, glancing at Linda. "How can I say no when they're both looking at me like that, with those cute, puppy dog eyes?"

"You can't. You may as well give in now," Linda laughed, reaching out to pat his shoulder. She rose from the table and pointed into the closed-in kitchen area. "I'd better check on dinner while you guys talk."

Even though he tried to ignore the looks, Chris couldn't turn a cold shoulder to the two sets of eyes that followed him everywhere. His wife and son had joined forces for the same cause and continued displaying their puppy dog eyes, as if they were channeling the very dog they planned to bring into their home as the newest family member. Though a few doubts remained, Chris wasn't one to rain on anybody's parade, so he gave in, marking his acquiescence with a pointed sigh. "I can't say I'm all that thrilled about the idea, but I trust your judgment more than anyone's, Steph, and if you think this will work out, I'm going to fall back and let you do your thing."

"I swear it'll work out. Where there's a will, there's a way," she said.

"That settles it, then. I guess we're getting a puppy, kid."

"I get a puppy?" Graham said. His mouth dropped open and Stephanie cupped his chin, in a playful attempt to close his mouth, but Graham slipped away from her and ran around the table to Chris. He glided into Chris's lap and hugged him tightly, and Chris only had enough time to drop a light kiss onto his head before he was rounding the table again, this time to hug Stephanie. "Thanks, Mommy. Thanks, Daddy. I promise I'll take care of the puppy, and I'll make him friends with Freddy, too."

"I don't know," Chris said. "Cats and dogs are pretty notorious for hating each other."

"Yeah, but Freddy is still young, and the puppy is going to be a baby, so they might get along okay, since they're basically going to be raised together," Stephanie guessed. "We'll have to wait and see, but I'm so excited for all the changes coming up. My biggest accomplishment in life has been building our family, and I'm glad that we're all together and going through all these new adventures. Things are hectic now, but they'll calm down pretty soon, and we'll be able to relax, take a deep breath, and wait for the baby to come."

"It's _my_ baby!" Graham announced, pressing his hand into Stephanie's stomach. She raised an eyebrow at him and he giggled. "It's really my baby, Mommy. I'm gonna take care of them and teach them everything."

"I'm confident that you will. You're going to be the best big brother a kid could ever ask for," she said. Linda returned several minutes later to announce that dinner was ready, and Vince reappeared from upstairs to join them for their evening meal. When everyone was settled, with full plates of food in front of them, Vince struck up a conversation.

"How are you feeling about your little brother or sister, Graham?" he questioned. "I know you must be excited."

"I already know it's a boy, so I'm happy for that," Graham said, matter-of-factly. He stabbed a green bean with his fork and pushed it into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully. "I think Mommy knows it's a boy, but she doesn't want to tell me because she thinks I'll get too excited."

"Is that so?" Stephanie smirked. Graham never failed to amuse her. "You think I already know it's a boy?"

"Yep, I do," Graham said. "You wont tell me, because I'll get hyper if I know it's a boy, and you say being hyper is bad. Last time when I ate a lot of candy, I was runnin' around the house and jumpin' around everywhere, and you said you weren't gonna ever do anything to make me hyper again, because I was too much work to take care of. That's why you won't admit to me that the baby's a boy, but I already know."

By that point, every adult at the table was practically in tears from laughing so hard, but Graham simply shrugged and resumed his meal. Stephanie wiped at her teary eyes, clutching her stomach, which was growing sore the harder she laughed. "That's really what you think, honeybee? You think I would keep a secret like that from you, all so you wouldn't be hyper?"

"Yeah, and I know it's true," Graham said, as if he had stumbled upon some sort of elaborate conspiracy. He leaned across the table, over his plate, and Stephanie leaned forward as well, wanting to hear what he had to say. "You don't have to say anything. I already know."

Once again, an eruption of laughter filled the room. Graham's mind was made up, but nature might turn out to have a plan of its own.


	10. Life Reflections and New Companions

A/N: I'm really sorry for the lack of updates this week, guys. All week long, I had a gum infection that caused horrendous pain, but I got medicine for it and all is well now, so I'm starting to get back into my groove. Thanks for being patient with me, and I hope you like this next chapter. I'll try to get more frequent updates going this week. Thanks again, faithful readers!

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She was initially roused into wakefulness by a knock, but not at a door, like in the typical sense. This knock echoed from the inner walls of her abdomen, and the kicks started light, flourishing into a series of four distinct knocks, as if her baby were tapping out a message to her in Morse code. Stephanie's eyes fluttered as she struggled to open them, leaving the comfort of sleep behind for sweet reality. She placed her open palm on her stomach, smiling while she waited, but when impatience got the best of her, she tried pressing firmly along her budding stomach, hoping for some sort of response.

Another solid thump emanated from the other side of her hand, and Stephanie couldn't be bothered to contain the sharp squeal that slipped out of the back of her throat. She rolled over in bed, knowing full well that the sun's rays were barely peeking through the sheer curtains, indicating that it was still early. Even so, she had her doubts that Chris would mind being woken up for an event as huge as feeling his baby's first kicks, so she shook his arm firmly, but when it became apparent that wasn't enough to actually wake him, she rolled on top of his body and kissed him hard. He moaned into her mouth, and she felt his muscles go stiff as he flexed them underneath her.

Stephanie pulled away smiling, and she touched her fingers to her lips. "I'll just apologize now for kissing you with morning breath, but I needed you awake."

"What's up?" Chris asked sleepily, speaking through a yawn.

"I felt the baby kick just now."

"You did?"

"Yeah," she confirmed. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I've been feeling movement from the inside for a while now, but this is the first time I've ever been able to feel the baby kick from the outside. Here, give me your hand so we can see if you feel it, too," Stephanie offered. Chris extended his hand and she grasped it, placing his palm flat against her stomach and pressing in lightly to encourage movement from the baby. Within 10 seconds, another flutter of kicks flooded in, and she knew exactly when Chris became aware of them, because he smiled so widely that she could nearly see every tooth in his mouth. "You felt it."

"Holy shit, I did!" he said, chuckling softly as he sat up in bed, much more alert than he had been even a minute earlier. Chris placed his other hand on her belly and kept both of them there, pressing around her stomach until he felt another flick. "Wow."

"Isn't it incredible? I know you've already been through this before with Graham, but this is my first time being pregnant, so I'm constantly amazed by all the new things that pop up."

"This never gets old, trust me. No matter how many children I have, I'll always be amazed by the things they do," Chris told her. He gazed at her stomach in elated wonderment, massaging her belly with his thumbs. "I can't believe we did this together. We created this little person, and now they're moving around and kicking, and they have a strong heartbeat that we get to hear every time we go to the doctor. I might not say this enough, but thank you for carrying my kid."

"No thanks necessary. It's my complete honor and pleasure," Stephanie answered. She cupped Chris's left cheek with her right hand and swished her thumb over his skin. "When we first met, did you ever think we would be having a baby together one day?"

"Looking back, I really think I was at least a little bit in love with you from the beginning, but I just didn't realize it that early on," Chris admitted. "I was completely mesmerized by your entire aura, but I thought you were way out of my reach. I'm sure I wanted to be with you on some level back then, but I never would have thought I'd marry you or have kids with you. And can I just mention that it was a whole lot of fun getting you pregnant?"

Stephanie laughed heartily at that, thinking back to their lively night on the bathroom counter. "It was a lot of fun for me, too. You can never just stick with staying in bed, but that's one of the things I love most about being with you. You always have to find some crazy place for us to make love."

"It's more fun that way."

"We've had sex on a bedroom floor, against a bedroom door, on our movie room floor, in the backseat of a car, and on our bathroom counter, which is exactly when I suspect I conceived this baby," she said, patting her stomach lightly. "I still don't know how you convinced me to go through with it, but there was even that time in the janitor's closet at work. Thank God the door has a lock on it. Remember when we were about halfway through and someone started wiggling the door handle, trying to get inside?"

"How could I forget?" Chris said, laughing against her skin when he leaned forward to kiss her neck. "That's a part of what makes it so fun. The risk of being caught gets your adrenaline pumping, and it makes the sex even better. My next goal is to get you to the beach after-hours, so we can do it underneath the lifeguard tower."

"First of all, the weather is too cold and snowy for us to be hanging out at the beach after-hours. Second of all, if we were to get caught in the act, we would both be arrested, and I really don't want that kind of thing on my record. You're only going to be able to convince me to get minimally crazy before I start turning your offers down."

"Nah, I don't believe that," he argued playfully. "I'll wait until the weather gets warmer and we'll give it a try."

"Not gonna happen."

"We'll see," Chris said. He rubbed her stomach gently, and they sat in bed for a long while, holding and caressing one another and waiting out short intervals of quietness, anticipating each new kick that came. "Before I forget, I thought of another name for a girl last night, but you had already fallen asleep, so I wrote it into the notepad for you."

"Oh, really?" Stephanie replied, slipping her hands over the top of his. "What was the name?"

"Take a look."

Stephanie reached for the notepad on their side table, and Chris's hand immediately missed her warmth. She flipped the cover of the notepad over and followed their list of names all the way down to the bottom of the page, checking on the newest addition to the girl name list. Her eyes lit like he had never seen before, and her mouth dropped open. "It's perfect, sweetie! Oh my gosh, it's _so_ perfect, I almost can't even put it into words. How could I have not even thought of this name?"

"I'm so happy you like it," Chris said, letting out a deep breath. He'd had his reservations about how Stephanie would react to that particular name, because they usually discussed the names they came up with before including them on the list, but apparently, he had struck gold with his latest choice.

"I can actually imagine having a daughter and calling her by this name," Stephanie said. She spoke the name aloud a few times, allowing it to hang in the air. Her smiled widened, and so did Chris's. "It's unreal how perfect it is. I love this name more than any other name we have on the girl list."

"So we've got our girl name set?"

"I'd say so, as long as you're in agreement with me."

"I am, for sure."

"Good, then it's settled. This is our name if the baby's a girl, and we'll have to keep working on our boy names until we find the perfect one," she said, glancing back down at the notepad. "I really love this name, Chris. It's so beautiful and girly, but sophisticated at the same time, and I'm almost mad at myself that I didn't come up with it first. Have you considered any middle names for her, if it turns out that the baby is a 'she'?"

"Not yet. I was thinking we could come up with one together."

"Sounds like a deal."

That afternoon, Stephanie slipped out of work without Chris, since Vince expected him to stay late for a production meeting. The day had already been decided upon as the special date when Graham would choose his new puppy, or perhaps it would be the other way around and the puppy would choose _them_. Stephanie had an assured feeling that they would know which pet was right for them the second they saw it, but she didn't want to make a selection alone, so she made a pit stop, picking Linda up first, then setting off in the direction of Graham's school so they could get him from football practice. Linda noticed the partially empty vehicle when she climbed into the front passenger seat, devoid of Chris, and naturally, she questioned it.

"Where's that handsome hubby of yours?"

"Take a wild guess," Stephanie japed.

"Your dad asked him to stay late for work?" Linda asked.

"Always. Who ever would have thought that the one person who constantly steals my husband away is my own father?" she teased. Linda laughed and patted her arm sympathetically. She understood the plight of a wife left alone due to the nature of her husband's busy profession taking him away. "I miss him all the time, but Chris is happy and loves his job, so I always try to keep that in mind. Plus, we get to spend our lunch breaks together every single day, and I always treasure that hour I get alone with him. We go out for food somewhere good, and we made a rule for ourselves that we can't talk about work during lunch, so we talk about everything else instead. It's so nice."

"It sure sounds like it."

"This morning, I woke up to kicks from the baby. I've felt kicks from the inside before, but this was the first time they could be felt from the outside. It woke me up, and when I put my hand on my stomach, I could actually feel these solid kicks, so I woke Chris up," Stephanie said. "He was so happy. As soon as he felt the first kick, he got this huge grin on his face, and he literally didn't stop smiling the entire time. He was _so_ happy, Mom."

"Sure sounds like you had an eventful morning. Chris is always so sweet and supportive of you. I watched him very closely in the beginning, not because he did anything wrong, but because I was concerned about whether or not he was good for you. I didn't want him to be choosing a relationship with you for the wrong reasons, but I've never seen any man who loves you the way he does," Linda admitted, glancing out her window at a wall of healthy green trees. "Your father told me that you, Graham, and the baby are all Chris ever talks about at work. He's actually had to go out of his way to refocus Chris, because all he ever wants to talk about is all of you."

"I pretty much only talk about him, Graham, and the baby, too. That's how it is when you have a family," Stephanie said. "They're all you think about, to the point where it consumes your every waking thought, but only in a good way. Family is what's most important."

"I taught you well, I see."

"You did."

"Can I ask you something personal?" Linda said, speaking tentatively. "I don't want you to be angry with me for bringing this up, because this might be a sensitive topic for you, but the only reason I'm asking is because I've never experienced it before for myself, and I'm just curious."

"Spit it out, Mom. What do you want to know?"

"Was it easy or difficult to start seeing Graham as your own son?"

Stephanie let out a relieved breath that she hadn't realized she was holding onto. "Oh, that's all? You had me terrified that you were going to ask me something crazy. Um, as far as Graham goes, I think I've felt something deep for him ever since the night we met, probably because of the harsh circumstances I met him under. He was this sweet, innocent kid just trying to get food with his father, and when I saw the tears in his eyes and the devastation on his face when they got turned down by the cashier, my heart broke. All I wanted was to hug and kiss him and tell him that everything would be all right."

"So you loved him right away?"

"I did in some sense, but I don't necessarily know that it was in a motherly type of way back then. It was more in the way that a teacher might love their student, or that a friend might love another friend. Like I said, I felt very deeply for him and for Chris right away, mostly because of what they were going through when I first met them," Stephanie said, turning onto the long, winding road that would ultimately lead to Graham's elementary school. "I would say that right around the time that Chris moved out of my house with Graham was when I first knew I loved them on a larger scale. Funny enough, that was also right around the first time that Graham told me he loved me, so when I said it back to him, I truly meant it."

"I remember when you called to tell me that had happened. You were so happy," Linda said, positively beaming as the memory resurfaced in her mind.

"It was just so cute, though. I wish you had been there to see it. Graham was playing and running around the apartment, and he stopped so abruptly and grabbed onto my hands. He looked up at me and said 'I love you', just like that. I'll never forget that day, or the way that I felt when he said it. I had already known that I loved him, but something about hearing those words from his mouth deepened my love for him, so I said it back."

"And you looked at him like a son, by that point?" Linda questioned.

"Mm...I would say I felt that there was potential to be in his life in a bigger capacity. I knew he wasn't my son back then, but that was when I first began to feel like I had the potential to be a motherly figure to him, and I started feeling like I had potential to be with Chris in the romantic sense, too. Although, if you ask Chris about that, he sees it a little differently. He says I've been like a mother to Graham since the first day we met, but he also loves me way too much, so he always says sweet things like that."

"Your husband can never love you too much," Linda said, reaching over the seat to pat Stephanie's thigh.

"I know. I was really only teasing about that, but he does sing my praises all the time." Stephanie flicked on her turn signal and pulled into the parking lot of Graham's school, finding a free space and pulling her vehicle in. She shifted the SUV into park, and they waited for his football practice to finish up. "Chris and Graham are very easy to love, for multiple reasons. It wasn't difficult or any kind of a stretch to love them as more than casual acquaintances, because the love that I get from them fuels my own. It's always easy for me to mirror love when I feel the enormity of their love shining back on me. They both love me beyond measure, and when I feel that, it makes it easier for me to reflect that back onto them. Of course, that's not the _only_ reason I love them, but it's a contributing factor, if that makes sense."

"It does, and you've answered my question," Linda stated. "I was always curious about how you three came to be a family. What do you think the turning point was that made you see Chris as more than a friend?"

"I had felt something extra for him for a long time, but when I truly knew in my heart that we could have a future together was when I found out he was seeing Melissa," Stephanie said, a faint smile spreading across her face when she thought back to that morning, so long ago. "We were in the car together, getting to work, and I asked Chris about a girl named Melissa, since he had mentioned her over the phone the day before or something. He kept saying they were just hanging out, and he wouldn't admit that she was his girlfriend, but I could tell that she was. I was crushed."

"You must have been."

"I seriously was," Stephanie said, repositioning her hands on the steering wheel. She looked toward the field to see if Graham was coming, but the boys were still in the middle of their plays, so she turned away. "I felt this weird mixture of rage and jealousy boiling up in me, and I'm _never_ like that. I don't feel those types of emotions very often, so when I noticed that, I figured it was because I wanted Chris to myself. There would have been no other reason for me to feel that way."

"So that's when you knew?"

"I'd say so. That, and also when he moved into his apartment with Graham. I was so hurt that he left, but I was also hurt by the way he left. To this day, I'm not sure he even understands just how badly my feelings were hurt," Stephanie said, eyes clouding over at the memory. "It felt like we had been so close for several months and built such strong relationships with each other, then it was gone, all in the blink of an eye. I remember catching him in the act of moving, because he didn't tell me he was leaving ahead of time, and I literally wanted to sink into the ground and never reappear. I felt _that_ bad."

"You were frantic when you called me that night, and I remember being angry with Chris for a while," Linda said. "I felt like he had hurt my little girl, and for that, I wanted him to hurt. Something tells me he was already hurting enough back then."

"He was. We've talked about it since, and he told me that he already loved me back then. His feelings for me played a role in why he moved out, actually," Stephanie relayed. "He told me shortly after we got engaged that he had wanted to be with me back then, but I had Ross, and he couldn't handle seeing me with another guy, which made him feel like he had to leave. He also didn't want Graham in the same house as Carter, because he had a little bit of a bad feeling about the guy, which turned out to be a sign. I should have listened."

"Oh well. Mistakes happen and you learn from them. It sounds like you and Chris had such a long and bumpy road. It's like you were destined to be together, though," Linda said. "There were all these obstacles in your way, but you overcame each one, and now you have a stepson and a new baby on the way."

"A son," Stephanie corrected.

"Hm?"

"I don't refer to Graham as my stepson. I know you didn't mean anything by it, but I don't like the connotations that a stepson is lesser than any other type of son," Stephanie said. She happened to glance up and found Graham dashing across the field near the bleachers, headed straight for their car. Her eyes lit up involuntarily at the sight of him, and Linda took notice, smiling at Stephanie's reaction to him. Stephanie gazed out the windshield at him lovingly. "He's my baby. No matter what anyone says, that little boy is mine, and he always will be. He belongs to me every bit as much as the baby who's in my stomach right now."

Linda nodded along with her sentiments. "I completely agree with you."

Graham finally made it to the vehicle and opened the door, shoving his bags into the backseat and climbing inside. Stephanie turned to smile at him. "Hi, sweetie. Did you have a good day?"

"Yep, I did," Graham said. He looked over and noticed there was an extra occupant in the front passenger seat, which was normally empty when Stephanie showed up at his school. "Hi, Mama Linda. You're here!"

"Hi, little one. I thought I would come along for the ride, since Mommy has a special surprise for you today."

"She does?" Graham asked, watching Linda through a pair of wide eyes. She nodded, just as Stephanie reached into her purse and retrieved a roll-up fruit snack. She held it out toward Graham.

"Here, honey. I brought you a little snack to hold you over until we can get home for dinner. We're going to make a pit stop on the way, because there's something we have to get," she said, speaking cryptically. She put the car in gear and began backing out of the parking space, and the car was filled with the sound of Graham's crinkling paper as he struggled to open his candy. He finally tugged the roll-up free and began eating from it.

"Mommy, where are we stopping?" he wondered.

"You tell me," Stephanie challenged, grinning at him in the rearview mirror. "What did you ask me and Daddy for a few days ago?"

"Um...I asked for..."

"It starts with a 'p'," Stephanie said, hoping to jog his memory.

"A puppy!" he exclaimed. "I get a puppy today?"

"Yes, you do. We're going to go pick one out right now," she said. "We have to pick the cutest, friendliest one we can find, and we'll show Daddy when he gets home this evening."

"I'm excited for this!" Graham exclaimed.

"Then I'm glad you're so happy," Stephanie commented. "Seeing a smile on your face is what I live for."

They showed up at the animal shelter with open minds and hearts, searching far and wide for the puppy that took to them most. Stephanie had her heart set on a pug, but Graham shied away from the one she pointed out, wanting something a little furrier and nicer to look at. There was one small puppy in particular who ran to his gate and pawed at it when Graham and Stephanie passed, whining and yapping away relentlessly, until an employee finally let him out to be petted. He climbed right into Stephanie's lap, leaving her only to be petted and hugged by Graham a minute later, and the sign they had been waiting for came to them. Stephanie's heart knew they couldn't possibly leave without that puppy; he was the perfect fit for their family.

They returned home that evening with a male chocolate labrador pup, whom Graham chose to name Brownie.


	11. What's Hers Is Hers

A/N: I'm sorry for all the delays, guys. My time has been almost completely filled this past week, and it will continue to be pretty filled for the next couple of weeks, after which point I'll slow down and get a little bit more of a chance to update some things. Here's the next chapter, and Stephy Baby, I got your requests for _Carry Your World_ and _Fool's Game_, so thank you for those. I promise you I will work on getting those updates completed very soon. I'll try to at least get a _Carry Your World_ update posted tomorrow! :)

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"I'll carry the tray up."

"No, I can carry it, Daddy."

"I know you can, Graham, but I'd rather bring it up the stairs myself. Here, why don't you go ahead of me, and you can wake Mommy up? When she sits up, you can put the tray in her lap so she can eat the breakfast we made."

"But I wanted to carry the tray," Graham grumbled.

Still, he crossed his arms, a sign of his resignation, and he led Chris out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Since it was Sunday morning and the Irvine boys liked to keep with tradition by whipping up a batch of their famous chocolate chip pancakes, they decided to serve Stephanie breakfast in bed. Pregnancy was making her more tired than normal, which meant that on average, she went to bed earlier and woke up later. Chris took it as a good sign that she was allowing her body the extra rest it craved, and he and Graham tried to pamper Stephanie as much as they possibly could.

She was only pregnant for a limited time, so they wanted to make her nine months of carrying their child and sibling, respectively, well worth the wait. Graham crept into the bedroom first, and Chris followed closely behind him, smiling involuntarily when he noticed Stephanie splayed out on her back, snoring lightly. He hated to wake her, but it was closing in on noon, and she needed to be up anyway, so that, at the very least, she could eat and drink something. Her left foot and shin peeked out from the bottom of the bedsheets, and Chris held the tray with one hand and reached down to re-cover her foot with the blanket, so she wouldn't get cold.

Graham raised his right hand and allowed it to hover over Stephanie's left shoulder. He glanced at Chris for reassurance, and when he received a nod of approval, he began shaking her gently. Despite sleeping like a rock on most mornings, Stephanie came to almost immediately, swiping at her face and sighing sleepily. She spotted Graham, who had leaned in close, then she noticed Chris standing behind him with a tray full of food, and a lazy smile crept across her face.

"Mommy, you have to wake up!" Graham exclaimed. "We made breakfast for you."

Stephanie cupped Graham's cheeks and kissed him on the center of his forehead. She pulled back and tossed the covers off of her body. "Thanks, boys. Have to wash up. Be back in a second."

After running her hand over Graham's hair, Stephanie made a quick stop to kiss Chris's cheek, then she disappeared behind the bathroom door. Chris placed her food tray down on the bed and kept his hands on the sides, to make sure the food and beverage didn't spill all over their bedsheets. Light barking echoed from the room a few doors down, which Stephanie had made into a special room for their pets, only for their remaining time living in the home. They had hired contractors to work on building a solid metal gate around their new home, as well as around the pool and hot tub, and Chris had consulted a security business to expertly position and install surveillance cameras around the new home. They were covered from all bases.

Until the work was completed, they had an ever-so-unpleasant wait on their hands, which preceded their big move, but the wait would be well worth it. Chris had promised Stephanie he would hire the movers and make sure they switched homes seamlessly. He wouldn't stand for having a stressed out wife, especially not while she carried his child, so he placed himself in charge of every other aspect of the move. The hired movers would take all of the hard work off of their hands so Chris could use that time to, instead, tend to his wife, son, and unborn baby. The raucous barking resumed, and Chris bucked his head in the direction of the hallway.

"Why don't you go check on Brownie and Freddy? Make sure they're just playing and not really fighting in there," Chris said.

"But I have to give Mommy her tray," he whined, tossing his hands up frustratedly. "You're gonna give it all to her without me, and she won't even know I helped."

The bathroom door swung open, and a visibly more alert Stephanie stopped in the doorway, arching an eyebrow. "I know you helped, sweetie. You and Daddy make me very happy."

Graham went to her and reached up for a hug. Stephanie bent down to give him one, kissing and rubbing his hair along the way. When they pulled apart, she climbed back into bed and adjusted her pillow against the headboard, pressing her back into the added cushioning. Graham, seeing that she was ready to enjoy her breakfast, went to Chris and reached out for the tray. Chris kept to his promise and allowed Graham to position the tray on all four of its legs, so that it extended a few inches above Stephanie's lap. The orange juice sloshed around a little in the glass, but thankfully, it didn't spill.

"Thank you so much. You're both so good to me," Stephanie gushed. She picked up her glass and took a sip of the tart juice. Upon placing it down, she pointed toward the hallway, signaling to Graham. "You really should go check on Freddy and Brownie. It sounds like they're roughhousing a little in their room."

"They're just playin' around," Graham shrugged.

Stephanie gave him a pointed stare. "What did we talk about when you first asked me for a puppy? I told you a lot of responsibility would be involved in bringing a dog into this house, and sometimes that means doing things for your pets, even when you don't necessarily feel like it. You need to go check on them."

"But I can do it later," he said, continuing to bargain, but he was unknowingly on the losing end of the deal.

"That wasn't a question, Graham," Stephanie said. Her voice was firm and unwavering, but her eyes remained soft and gentle. "Go check on them and come right back."

Graham sighed loudly and tossed his hands up for a second time. "But, Mommy!"

"But, Grammy!" Stephanie mimicked, tipping her head and pressing her lips into a firm line. When Graham matched her expression and posture, she cracked a slight smile. "Go, honey. I'm serious."

"I'll be right back," he declared. Graham dashed out of the room and down the hallway, and Chris sat on the edge of the bed, smiling at Stephanie. She let out a low chuckle, and he did the same, reaching out to rub her leg.

"He's a hardheaded little bugger, isn't he?" Chris asked.

"Gee, I wonder where he gets _that_ from," Stephanie responded. She aimed a cheeky smile at her husband, and he pointed to her food.

"Will you please eat before it gets cold?"

"Yes, sir," she said, saluting him with her right hand before digging into her food. Graham returned a couple minutes later with Brownie in his arms, but Freddy was nowhere to be found. Stephanie dabbed at her mouth with a napkin and swallowed the bite of pancake that was in her mouth. "What's the matter?"

"Freddy's being kinda mean to Brownie. He kept jumping on him and stuff, and Brownie was tryin' to run away. It was mean, so I brought Brownie with me. I think he's scared, and you know what else?"

"What?" she asked.

"He pooped on the floor," Graham announced. Chris groaned, knowing he would likely be the one to clean the mess. Graham wouldn't do a thorough enough job if he sent him on the task, and he couldn't ask Stephanie to do it when she was in the middle of her breakfast. He decided to take one for the team.

"Did he at least get it on the newspaper?" Chris asked. He stood and kissed the top of Stephanie's head before starting out of the room.

"Yep," Graham said.

"At least he was aware enough to do that," Chris said, slipping out so he could clean up the 'treat' Brownie had left for them.

They were in the process of training Brownie to run to the downstairs patio door whenever he needed to be let out, but he hadn't quite worked out his routine yet, and accidents were frequent. Although he didn't exactly enjoy cleaning the mess, Chris liked the companionship that came along with having pets running around the house, and he hadn't once regretted agreeing to a new puppy, despite his initial resistance. It was a good adjustment for Graham, as he was learning responsibility and being given the chance to build trust with his parents. Graham spied the open bedroom door, considering following his dad, but he gravitated to Stephanie instead and sat on the bed beside her.

She took small bites while flipping through the TV channels with her remote, but it didn't take long for her to catch Graham eying her food. "You ate downstairs, didn't you?"

"I was about to, but we wanted to bring you food first."

"I don't want you to go without your breakfast, though," Stephanie said. Her forehead crinkled, and she cut a small piece of her pancake with the side of her fork, beckoning Graham with her index finger. He leaned in, and she cupped her hand directly underneath, so nothing would drip onto the bed. When the fork reached Graham's mouth, he took a bite, chewing hungrily and swallowing it down. His eagerness to eat was enough to make her feel just the right touch of guilt. "We should go downstairs so that you can grab your food. I can't have a hungry, food-deprived little boy on my hands."

"I used to be hungry lots, Mommy," he said. Graham rubbed absently at his eyes. "Sometimes we couldn't get any food, and Daddy had to wait until morning to try again. If he couldn't get food for both of us, he would give me all the food so I could eat."

"Let's not think about that," Stephanie proposed. "I want you to focus on thoughts that make you happy." She lifted her tray and moved it to the opposite side of the bed, grabbing her plate and glass from it. "Let's go downstairs so we can eat at the table together. We have plenty of food in this house, and I promise that you'll never have to go hungry again, little one."

"And the baby?" he quizzed.

"The baby won't go hungry, either."

They left the room and took a trip down the stairs, with Graham asking cute little questions along the way. Clearly, all their hunger talk had made him curious. "What do babies eat?"

"Well, for right now, the baby eats whatever I eat, since they're in my stomach. When they're finally born, they're going to drink formula."

They reached the bottom floor and Graham led the way to the kitchen. "But what food will they eat?"

"Babies don't eat solid foods at first," Stephanie said. When she made it to the dining room table, Stephanie set her half-eaten food down and went to the cabinet, pulling out a clean plate and placing two pancakes on top. She selected two slices of bacon and put them beside the pancakes, handing the plate off to Graham.

"Thank you."

"No, thank _you_," she corrected, rubbing his head. "You and Daddy were the ones who cooked it, remember?"

"Yep," he said, smiling brightly. Stephanie brought the maple syrup to the table and handed it off to Graham, whose thirst for knowledge still hadn't waned. "How long does it take for babies to start eating real food?"

"I'm a new mommy, so I'm not exactly sure yet, but I think they can start eating mushy solid foods when they're around half a year old. Most of what I've read says that at six months old, they should be able to handle more of a variety," she said. Graham nodded along with great interest as he chewed thoughtfully. Stephanie picked up her fork and resumed eating as well. "When the baby reaches that point, we can start them off on applesauce or rice cereals. Maybe even hard-boiled eggs, as long as they're cut into small enough pieces. We'll figure it out."

"Yep, we will," Graham nodded.

"Daddy's already been through this before with you, so I'm sure he remembers what you're supposed to feed a baby. I'm going to be leaning on him a lot for his help, but I need you, too. I can't do this without you."

"I'll help a lot," he said. He bit roughly into a strip of drenched bacon, and Stephanie laughed at the dot of syrup that drizzled onto his chin as a result. She grabbed a clean napkin from the center of the table and held it out for him. "Mommy?"

"Yes, hon?"

"Will you love the baby more than me, since they came out of your tummy and I didn't?"

Stephanie dropped her fork onto her plate with an unceremonious clank. Chris chose that moment to stroll into the kitchen, making contorted faces and puking noises. "Cleaning up dog poop is no joke, guys," he said, then upon noticing they were eating, "Oh, sorry, I don't want to ruin your breakfast. We'll talk about something else."

He went about his business, navigating around the kitchen and making a plate for himself, but when he realized that an odd silence had settled in, he checked on his wife and son. Stephanie wasn't so much as blinking, sitting frozen like a statue as she watched Graham, and he was staring back at her, waiting for an answer. Before Chris could ask what was going on, Stephanie found her voice and cleared her throat. "Why would you ever think something like that, Graham?"

"Something like what?" Chris asked, crinkling his nose. His words fell on deaf ears.

"Some boy at school told me," Graham shrugged.

"Told you what, exactly?" Stephanie questioned.

"He knows who you are. He watches WWE all the time, and his parents looked you up online. They told my friend that I'm not really yours. They said you don't have any kids," he claimed. Stephanie's mouth dropped open, and she felt a wave of heat as it coursed through her cheeks, setting them ablaze. Graham, in all his innocence, continued on, not missing a beat. "My friend says I'm not your real son, but he says the baby is gonna be your real baby. I'm the only one who's not really yours, and he says mommies love the babies who come out of their tummies more than the ones who don't."

By that point, Chris had crossed the room and joined his family at the dining room table, waiting for his turn to interject, but it wasn't coming. Stephanie had plenty to say on the matter. She balled her napkin and tossed it down, next to her plate. "Graham, I need for you to understand something. People know who I am, because I'm on TV and I'm an employee of a large, multimillion dollar corporation. Because of that, you're going to hear a lot of petty gossip at school from your classmates. They're going to say ugly things that they have no business talking about to begin with, but you have to know that everything Daddy and I tell you trumps what other people say."

"That means what they say at school doesn't matter?" Graham wondered.

"It means that certain things people say at school are none of their business, and they don't know what our family dynamic is like, so they shouldn't be speaking on matters that don't concern them. You, Daddy, and I are the only ones who know what it means to be a part of this household," she explained. Stephanie held her right hand out, and Graham closed his hand over her fingers. "You're my son in every way imaginable, and anybody who says otherwise is plain wrong. It's true that you didn't come out of my tummy, Graham, but I love you more than I can ever express through my words. You know that, don't you?"

"I know," he nodded. "You're nice to me, and you let me call you 'Mommy', and you take care of me, and you also tell me you love me all the time."

"That's because I do, very much," Stephanie said. Graham squeezed her hand even tighter, and she tipped her head at him. "Nobody, and I mean _nobody_, has the right to ever tell you that you're not my child. You are, and always will be, my son. I love you and the new baby equally, and that's the honest truth. I don't want you to ever doubt my love for you."

"Why do people say I'm not yours, if I am?" Graham asked.

"Because they have big mouths and know nothing about our situation," Chris cut in. He pulled a chair up beside Graham and took a seat, placing his hand on the small of Graham's back. "Mommy doesn't look at you any differently than she looks at the baby, and I know what I'm about to ask of you might be difficult, but you have to ignore the things people say about her at school. They're getting their information from the internet, and half of what they say isn't even true. Actually, pretty much all of what they say isn't true, and even if it were, they shouldn't be discussing it with you. You're Mommy's child, just like the new baby is, and she loves you both the same."

Graham's eyes brightened. "That's what I told the boy. I said that Mommy was my Mommy, but he said she's not, so I said she was again. Then, he stopped talking about it, but I knew the truth, Mommy. I was just askin', because I wanted to make sure, but I sort of knew, because I already know I'm your son, and I'm Daddy's son, too."

"And now you're rambling," Chris joked, poking Graham in the side with his index finger. Graham jumped and laughed against Chris's shoulder, enveloping him in a side hug.

"What should I do if someone says I'm not Mommy's again?" Graham said. "Should I tell them that I am?"

"If anyone brings up any unkind gossip about Mommy or our family, you ignore it," Chris instructed. "You don't have to tell them anything about our home life. Be gracious and kind, just like we've always taught you, but you can't take any of what they say to heart. People are going to talk a lot, because a lot of people know who Mommy is, but you can't let them get to you. Rise above and be stronger than their words are. You know how much Mommy and I love you, and nothing that anybody else says should ever change that."

"Okay," Graham said, returning to his food.

Chris and Stephanie exchanged agitated glances over his head, but Graham remained oblivious.

Stephanie left work early on Tuesday, making her great escape without anyone noticing, and she stopped only to pick up her mother at home. They made the drive out to the new house, and Stephanie parked near the curb, since the driveway was inaccessible, due to all the workers' supplies crowding the space. The building of the gate was in full progress, all due to Chris's unwavering efforts in hiring contractors to make their new home a livable spot for their family. Stephanie spied at least three people setting the foundation for what was to become the divider that surrounded them home, keeping all intruders and outsiders away.

"It's looking nice already," Linda said, unbuckling her seatbelt. "What a wonderful job they're doing."

Stephanie stepped out of the vehicle and shut her door, rounding to Linda's side. She placed her hand on her stomach and rubbed it lightly. "This is all Chris's work. I think he knows how stressed out I am with everything we have coming up, so he's been the one calling around and making all of our plans. He hired everyone here today."

"How nice of him," Linda complimented. "He's such a good husband to you."

"He's my everything. I don't even know what I would do without him," Stephanie replied. She greeted the men in the front of the house and led Linda to the front door, pulling her key out so she could bring her inside to take an extended look at the house.

Slightly across town, the patter of two sets of feet dawdled up the walkway that led to the front door of Chris's and Stephanie's current home. Their visit had been a long time in the making, and now, that vision was finally coming true. A fist came down on the door, knocking three times before ringing the doorbell. Vivian, who was inside caring for Freddy and Brownie while everyone else was away, opened the front door and smiled at the two people awaiting her.

"Well, hello there!" Vivian squealed, pushing the door open and allowing both visitors inside. "Chris and Stephanie are out for the moment, but they should be back anytime now. Stephanie will probably arrive before Chris."

"Great! We'll just wait here for them," the young woman said, plopping down on the couch, as her young daughter climbed into her lap. Their arrival was a semi-surprise, in the sense that both Chris and Stephanie had known that they were coming to visit, but they hadn't mutually agreed on an exact date. Her deepest hope was that they would be happy to see her, but she couldn't imagine anything less than shared elation.

At last, Amanda and Caylie were back inside of their old stomping grounds.


	12. Listen to the Winds of Change

"I just can't believe what a big girl you are now!" Stephanie gushed. She bounced Caylie in her arms and rained kisses on each of her cheeks. Over time, Caylie's hair had lightened to an even more sun-kissed shade of blond, and Stephanie nuzzled her nose against her shiny locks. "You are so beautiful, honey. Such a gorgeous girl."

Amanda came up behind the pair after depositing her dirty plate in the soapy sink water and tugged on Caylie's bare feet as she leaned in close. "What do we say when we get compliments, princess? Hm? Do we say 'thank you'?"

"Tanks!" Caylie exclaimed, eyes lighting like a pair of igniting firecrackers.

"You're welcome," Stephanie laughed. She patted Caylie's back and took a seat with her at the kitchen table, where Chris was in the process of enjoying a late evening dinner after a long day at the office. Amanda dropped lazily into a chair, leaning over Graham's shoulder to see the picture he was coloring. When Graham noticed her curiosity, he selected a tangerine orange crayon and held it out to her.

"You can help me color," he said, pointing Amanda to the blank picture on the opposite page.

"Are you sure?" she asked. Amanda pushed her hair back behind her shoulders, tipping her head quizzically. "I wouldn't want to mess up anything in your coloring book."

"You won't mess it up," Graham assured her, dishing out a second insistent order. "Here, color it."

"Okay, then. If you insist," Amanda answered. She got started on the picture while Caylie reached for a tuft of Stephanie's hair and began tugging playfully on it. She spoke in broken sentences, but Stephanie was able to understand most of the ideas she attempted to get across.

Caylie released Stephanie's hair, but then she started patting the top of Stephanie's head in a continuous motion. "Petty."

Amanda chuckled. "She means 'pretty'. She's trying to tell you that your hair looks pretty."

"Oh gosh," she pursed her lips and rolled her eyes heavenward, "I barely even did anything with it today, but thanks anyway." She poked Caylie in the stomach to make her laugh. "I'm so glad you came, Amanda. I don't know if you realize how positive it is for my mood to see you and Caylie, but I've missed both of you so much. I talk about you all the time, and sometimes I worry about how you're doing in Montana, but Chris always calms me down."

"She really does love you guys," Chris chimed in, only after swallowing the leftover bits of food in his mouth. "You know how Steph is. Once you've made an impression on her, she never forgets you. She talks about you almost every night before bed and tells me how she wishes you still lived here, and I'm not saying that to guilt-trip you for leaving. I'm only trying to get my point across. You had to do what was right for you and Caylie, but I hope you know how missed you are around these parts. Steph talks and thinks about both of you all the time."

"That makes me feel good. Special, too," Amanda said, meeting Stephanie's gaze from across the table. She was as much a sentimental woman as Stephanie, two beings with easily touched hearts. A part of Amanda craved Stephanie's approval after all they had lived through together, because even though Stephanie wasn't her actual parent, she had stepped in as an authority figure in her life, and Amanda would never forget how Stephanie had come through for her in such a time of need. In that sense, Stephanie was like a mother to her. "I'll admit that there was a point in time, especially when I first moved away, that I worried I might be forgotten. I still had your number and I always call you, but my calls weren't too frequent in the beginning, so I just wasn't sure if your feelings about me would change."

"Never," Stephanie promised, shaking her head.

"I know that now."

"You should have known it before," Stephanie scolded, with just the right amount of playfulness to make Amanda smile.

"Fine, you're right, I should have known before," Amanda agreed. Graham tapped her arm to remind her of the uncolored picture she was neglecting, and Amanda grinned widely, picking up where she left off. Another exciting topic came to mind, but this time she stayed busy while speaking, so as not to upset Graham. "It's so different seeing you pregnant, Steph. It's just fascinating to me."

"Different in a good or a bad way?" Stephanie wondered. The corners of her mouth tugged into a serene smile. She absently rested her free hand on her belly, and Caylie leaned her forehead against Stephanie's cheek, letting out a big yawn.

"Definitely in a good way. After you and Chris got married, I sort of expected you to move fast. Maybe not quite as fast as you actually did, but that's how it is when you find the right person," Amanda said. Her smile faltered a little, and she bit down on the corner of her bottom lip. "Things with Tanner have been better, I guess, but you know how it goes."

"Not really," Stephanie said, which was her manner of fishing for details. She didn't want to invade Amanda's personal life, but she wanted to help and offer advice, if that was what Amanda was in search of. "How _does_ it go?"

"I shouldn't have brought it up in front of Caylie. Can we talk later, when we can get some privacy?" she asked.

"Of course," Stephanie said. "You just pull me aside whenever you're ready."

"Thanks," Amanda replied. She picked up her glass and took a sip of the iced sweet tea Stephanie had filled it with. She lowered it only after a long swig. "This is the best iced tea ever. I love this stuff."

"Steph's on a sweet tea kick right now, so we always have that stuff around," Chris said. "Ever since she got pregnant, she's been making that stuff by the gallon. Then I come home from work to pour myself some and it's already gone, because she drank it all."

Stephanie's mouth dropped open, and she reached out to swat his arm, an exchange Graham found hilarious, judging by his open laughter. "How dare you," Stephanie scoffed, pretending to be angry. "I don't really drink that much tea, Manda. I've been good about making sure I get enough water and milk for the baby, and once I've had my fill of both those things, I have a glass of tea if I'm still thirsty. Don't mind my husband. He likes to exaggerate."

Chris shrugged guiltily and went about eating his meal of steak and potatoes, and Amanda gulped down some more of her tea. She was first to break the silence that had filled the room. "I can see why you love it, Steph, and besides, pregnancy cravings are no joke. Men don't understand, because they're not the ones who have to carry the babies, but when you're pregnant, there are moments when you literally feel like you can't live without a certain kind of food or drink. I remember that vividly from when I was pregnant with Caylie."

"Me!" Caylie squealed, having recognized her name in conversation.

"That's right; that's you!" Stephanie responded, tickling Caylie's left side.

When she looked around the table, Stephanie saw three smiling faces staring back at her. Even more than their smiles, they had a light in their eyes that exuded true happiness. It was a feeling Stephanie wanted to capture, bottle up, and save for more trying times. Even despite the distance, Amanda and Caylie had remained her family, and seeing everyone gathered around the table, watching her with the same admiration they all had when she had first invited them into her home, Stephanie knew there were no other people on earth who she would rather call her family.

Then her eyes gravitated to sweet, wholesome Graham, squinting in concentration as he returned his focus to his coloring book. He even stuck his tongue out between his lips a little when he worked, which was a habit Stephanie had noticed after watching him color and draw on countless occasions. She smiled at the sight, and the overwhelming love that rushed into her heart led her to one conclusion. Marriage had made her commitment to Chris official, and purchasing a new home from which to build their lives was going to make her family official, but that still left one loose end: Graham.

It was time to make her link as his mother official.

Later that evening, when the kids were tucked away in their own separate beds, Stephanie pulled Chris aside. He wasn't planning on staying up too terribly late, since he had work in the morning, but Stephanie had received the green light from Vince to take the day off. Amanda and Caylie could only stay to visit for one more full day, so Stephanie was going to spend her entire Wednesday with them, and Chris was going to report to the office, as usual. Stephanie had wanted to catch him before he sank into their bed and fell away to exhaustion, because ever since dinner, she had been bursting at the seams to discuss a potential development.

She left Amanda in the game room, occupied by a pinball machine, and Stephanie promised to come right back for her, as soon as she and Chris squared some important details away. Chris seemed to have picked up on her nervous energy, extra observant husband that he was, and he went so far as to turn the television off. Chris wanted their bedroom to be free of distractions, and he sat up in bed, reaching his hands out to hold each of Stephanie's. When their hands were linked, he raised each of them to his mouth and kissed the backs in the center, like a perfect gentleman.

"What's on your mind, angel?" Chris asked. "Is everything okay?"

"Everything's perfect. I wanted to talk to you, because when we were all sitting at the dining room table together, it felt like we were a real family, including Amanda and Caylie. It made me miss the times we used to have together, when it was all of us spending every single night as a group," she said. "I started to think about how far you and I have come since we first met and how we've made almost everything official. We got married, bought a house together, and now we're going to be starting a family and giving Graham a sibling."

"You're still happy about all of this, right?" he questioned. "Because I'd hate for you to feel overwhelmed with your pregnancy, moving, and all that other stuff. I'm always here for you, Steph, no matter what. If you need me, day or night, you can talk to me and I'll be here. I have your back, and you know I'd drop everything for you in a heartbeat. That's what being your husband means to me."

"I know that," Stephanie said. She let go of Chris's hand long enough to rub his cheek. "I'm so grateful to have you in my life. I was talking about you with my mom earlier, and I was telling her that you're the only person keeping me sane. You used to always tell me that you would be lost without me, and I'm beginning to have those same feelings about you. I need you a lot, Chris."

"I know, baby. I need you, too," he responded. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I was thinking about Graham."

She paused for several seconds, so Chris tried to give her a nudge in the right direction, saying, "Go on."

"I really love him."

"I know you do. I can see it in your eyes when you look at him," he told her.

"So that's why I was thinking," she let go of Chris's hands entirely and began fiddling with her own, "maybe I should make this whole thing official. I'm Graham's stepmother, but I want something more. I want to be recognized as his actual parent, just like you are. I guess what I'm trying to say is that since his biological mother has passed away, maybe I can adopt him."

Chris's brow furrowed at once. "Adopt him?"

"Yeah," Stephanie said, shrinking into herself a little. She hugged her arms around her body. "Um, what do you think?"

He nodded slowly, still frowning, and Stephanie wasn't sure he was aware he was even making that expression. "Do you realize what adoption would entail? His mother is on his birth certificate, and they would take her name away and add yours instead."

"Is that a bad thing?" she asked innocently. Chris's head snapped toward her, and she shrugged. "I mean, I don't know a whole lot about this process, I'll admit. I haven't researched it in-depth yet. It's just something I was thinking of."

"Graham loved his mother," Chris said. "All he has left is her memory, and if her name is erased from his birth certificate, it feels to me like that would be erasing a huge part of her that he could never get back again. Once the birth certificate is changed, we can't go back on that. When it's final, it's final."

"I know that," Stephanie nodded along. "I understand."

"I'm not so sure you do," he replied. "I get that you love Graham and want to take things to the next level, but I don't know that I'm okay with completely removing Carly's name from Graham's life. Just because she's dead doesn't mean she's not his mother anymore. She's not in the literal sense, but she will always be his mom, in some capacity."

"I know that," Stephanie said, a little shakier than before.

"It's not like Carly's not his mother anymore by her own choice, you know?" Chris said. "The reason she's not his mother is because she got robbed of her life, and I don't think it's fair to diminish who she was or her role in Graham's life just because she's no longer here. She matters, too."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to be taken in that way," Stephanie rushed out. "That isn't what I was trying to do."

"I know," Chris said, reaching out to pat her leg. "I'm not convinced that it's the right thing, but I appreciate you for taking the time to talk to me about it. I'm gonna get ready for bed."

Chris disappeared behind their bathroom door, and Stephanie's face turned a sickly pink shade, her cheeks and forehead flushing in the wake of her embarrassment. She wanted to scream, to berate herself for not thinking of how adoption might affect Chris's and Graham's feelings. When she spied the closed bathroom door, her eyes teared, and a few seconds later, the dam broke and they spilled onto her cheeks. She felt silly and unreasonable, but in some small part of her heart, she was hurt that Chris had been so flippant about her idea, regardless of whether or not he agreed with it.

She knew him well enough to feel confident that he hadn't blown her off on purpose. Chris thought she was making a casual request, without realizing all the time and thought Stephanie had put into the decision before voicing it aloud. She felt like she had been shut down by her best friend, which was basically what their discussion had amounted to, and suddenly, there was only one person she wanted to surround herself with. He was the only person in the whole house who could make her feel better in such a time of internalized grief, so Stephanie pushed off of the bed and wiped at her eyes with her fingertips.

She followed the hallway all the way down to Graham's room, where Chris had left the door cracked, since Graham didn't like to sleep in the dark and be completely cut off from the rest of the home. Stephanie pushed softly on the door and it creaked open, bringing a cringe to her face as she prayed the noise wouldn't wake Graham. His lava lamp spilled a sea of red light into the room, casting odd circles and dots off of all four surrounding walls. She tiptoed into the room and stood at the foot of Graham's bed, smiling through her tears when the pale light bounced off of Graham's sleeping face and revealed him to her.

His head was nodded off to the side, his mouth slightly ajar, and Stephanie laughed softly, padding farther into the room and taking a seat in the rocking chair positioned at the side of his bed. Seeing his face, as a beam of color danced over it, brought the rawest emotions out of her, and she reached out and felt for his hand, not stopping until it was tucked inside her own. Stephanie sat with Graham for so long she lost track of the time, and in a way, time had ceased to exist anyway. Her memories were timeless, and that was what she occupied herself with, thinking of all the treasured moments she had spent with Graham, and even musing over the moments they might enjoy together in the future.

It wasn't until she heard her name being called throughout the house, by Chris and Amanda, that she realized she was even missed at all. Stephanie stood and bent over the bed, kissing Graham's forehead and whispering a soft wish in his ear for pleasant dreams. She returned to his bedroom door and gave his sleeping form a final, loving gaze, then she slipped out of the room and cracked the door exactly the way she had found it. The calls were closer now, and the footsteps thudding on the stairs told her that Chris and Amanda were coming back up to the second floor to look for her, so she decided to meet them halfway.

Chris was in front of Amanda, so he was first to catch sight of Stephanie. "There you are! We've been looking everywhere for you, babe. Didn't you hear us calling for you?"

"Not until a little bit ago," Stephanie answered.

"Where were you?" Amanda asked, coming up on Stephanie's side.

"With Graham," she said, but her voice cracked at the end of his name. She covered her mouth, struggling to gather the strength to finish her thought. She spoke from behind the shield of her hand. "Just watching him sleep."

"Well, what's wrong?" Amanda asked. She rubbed Stephanie's arm, and when Chris realized the severity of the situation, he walked up the few remaining steps separating him from his wife. He enveloped her in a hug, and that was the final straw that broke Stephanie, but Amanda was still busily searching for answers. "Steph, seriously, what's going on? Was Graham okay?"

"He's fine, but I don't know if _I_ am," she mumbled, weeping gingerly into Chris's shoulder.

"Hey, come on now. Please don't cry, gorgeous. Whatever is bothering you, we'll work it out, just like we always do," Chris spoke tenderly, in a gentle tone he reserved only for Stephanie and Graham. He swirled his hand over her back and rocked her from left to right, kissing her hair every so often. Amanda rubbed Stephanie's back for a while as well, and Chris only had to take one look at her to see the fear in her eyes.

"Is this just her pregnancy hormones or is something really wrong?" Amanda asked.

Chris continued to hold Stephanie. "Actually, she just had a talk with me upstairs about a sensitive subject, and I think that's probably what she's upset about. Is that what's bothering you, Steph?" She said nothing, just kept her face buried in his shoulder, and Chris nodded to Amanda. "I'm so sorry to take her away from you. I just need to get her alone in our bedroom for one quick moment so we can square things away, then I'll bring her down so you guys can watch a movie or talk, or whatever it is you were planning on doing tonight."

"Okay, I understand," Amanda said, still looking worried. She patted Stephanie's back and kissed her head. "Love you, Steph. See you in a little while. Please take good care of her, Chris."

"I will; I promise," he said.

Amanda nodded and kissed his cheek as well, retreating down the stairs and into the sitting room to await Stephanie's return. Chris led Stephanie up the stairs into their bedroom, kicking the door shut behind them. He was first to take a seat at the end of the bed, and he pulled Stephanie into his lap. She dabbed at her eyes with her fingertips, so Chris lifted the end of his shirt, which fit loosely on him, and he used the lower hem to wipe the leftover tears from Stephanie's face.

"I'm so sorry that you're not feeling well," Chris said, swiping his hand over Stephanie's forehead to remove a few strands of hair. "Did I hurt your feelings?"

"A little bit."

"I owe you an apology, then. I'm really sorry, and I mean that with everything in me," Chris said. He kissed her cheek. "I didn't even think anything of our talk until I couldn't find you anywhere in the house. Then I backtracked and started wondering to myself, like, '_Was I too harsh with her?_'. I don't want you to be in pain. I only want good things for you, and I want you to be happy, so if you're not, tell me what's wrong and I'll try my best to make it better. Did you feel like I blew you off?"

"Sort of."

"Come on, baby, I need you to talk to me, and I mean _really_ talk to me," Chris said. "What are you feeling right now?"

"It just hurts, because I love Graham so much, and it's like music to my ears to hear him call me 'Mommy'. I love hearing that out of his mouth, and I feel like I want to make things official and adopt him, because if I were to do that, I would have the same parental rights as you do. Right now, I'm a stepparent, but if you were to decide you wanted to pack Graham up and leave, you could do that and my parental rights would be limited."

"I would never do that," Chris said. "I'm not going anywhere, not ever."

"I know," Stephanie replied. "That was only an example, but what I'm trying to say is that I won't have as many rights while I'm a stepparent. If I adopted Graham, that would legally give me the same rights as his biological mother would have if she were still here, and I want that. I want Graham to be my son for life."

"He _is_ your son for life, and I've told you that before, plenty of times."

"But what if that's not good enough?" she pondered. "What if I want something more than that? What if Graham wants something more than that?"

"You're making good points, but this is hard for me, I'm not going to lie," Chris said. "No other woman in my life compares to you or the love that I feel for you, Steph, because you're once in a lifetime for me. I'll never meet anyone else like you, but I loved Carly, too. I really did, and there's this part of me that feels dread over even thinking about having her name removed from Graham's birth certificate. I need you to understand that the way I feel isn't your fault. It isn't anyone's fault. It's just that if I remove Carly's name, I'll have to admit to myself that she's really, truly gone and never coming back and that..." Chris got choked up and turned away, forcing out the rest of his sentence in a hurry. "That's a hard thing to deal with."

"I know it must be," Stephanie said, rubbing Chris's chest with her palm. Her forehead wrinkled with newly emerging sympathy lines, and she pulled Chris into a hug. "I'm so sorry for your loss. I can't even imagine how hard it must have been to lose someone you loved in such a violent way. I know you loved Carly, and I wish you could know how broken my heart is for what you and Graham had, and _still_ have, to go through."

"I know, Steph. I know," Chris repeated, rubbing her back to comfort her, even within his own grief. She gave him a couple of minutes, and they sat there together in silence, until Chris made the first move. He lifted his head from her shoulder. "We weren't married for long, but Carly and I had a talk about what we would want for each other in the event that something happened to one of us. Jeez, I've never said this to anyone before."

"It's okay. You can tell me," Stephanie said. Chris leaned forward and kissed her lips.

"I know I can. You're the only person I can ever trust with anything," he said. He rubbed at his eyes for a moment. "Anyway, she told me that if I ever lost her, she would want me to meet someone else and fall in love again. She said she hoped I would be able to meet a woman who made me happy and who was good to Graham. Then, I found you, and there's always this little part of me that wonders, like, did she send you to me? Maybe she was sick of watching me hurt and wanted to give me someone who would complete my life and be a mother to Graham, all at the same time."

"Chris, that's the sweetest, most thoughtful thing anyone has ever said to me."

"I just love you so much, and Graham does, too, and there's this part of me that almost wants to hang onto Carly, but then I look around and see how far I've come and how great of a life you and I have built together, and maybe this _is_ the right thing. Maybe Carly wants you to take over the rights to Graham. She would have wanted him to have a mother in her absence, and I know that, because she told me herself. She would have wanted this, so all of my hesitance has to be coming from inside me, because I'm not fully ready to let go. And you know something, Steph?"

"What is it?"

"I think it's time for me to let go," Chris said. He swallowed thickly and spoke through the pain. "I need a little bit of extra time, though. Can you give me a chance to bring Graham back to Winnipeg? I want to take him to his mom's grave so we can talk to her, and if it feels right after talking to her, I want you to move forward with the adoption so you can officially be Graham's mother, once and for all."

"Thank you so much," Stephanie said, wrapping her arms around his neck. She clung to him, and Chris did the same with her. They stayed sandwiched together for a few sweet minutes, just bathing in the silence. Stephanie pressed her lips into the side of his neck. She left him with one final thought before climbing out of his lap and returning downstairs to meet Amanda. "Only if it feels right, Chris. The only way I want to adopt Graham is if it truly feels right to both of you."

"Time will tell."


	13. Water That's Thicker than Blood

A/N: I haven't been updating as much as I would like to lately, so I wanted to get this next chapter up tonight. Also, for those of you who are reading _Carry Your World_, I'm not trying to leave you hanging, but I won't be able to update that today. For some reason, I'm having major writer's block with that story, and I'm not sure where to take it next. I've written and rewritten the next chapter at least five times now, and I keep scrapping it because something just feels off. When I finally get it right, I'll be posting it. I promise I'll try to make sure it goes up sometime this week. Thanks for your support, and I hope you like what I came up with here!

* * *

Graham plodded slightly ahead of Chris on the frozen grass, decked out in a winter hat, gloves, a heavy coat, and a scarf. Chris had once been advised that wearing a scarf could prevent anyone from getting sick as a byproduct of fiercely cold weather, so he never roamed the lands of Canada without one. That was a ritual he had passed down to Graham, and the pair looked almost identical as they marched through the cemetery, passing multiple rows of unending, marked graves. Chris thought the trip was most appropriate as a father/son outing, considering the subject matter of their visit, so they had left Stephanie behind in Connecticut — an arrangement that she was okay with.

Pregnancy was slowing her down and adding to her general drowsiness by the day, so Stephanie felt she would only serve as a distraction for Chris and Graham, anyway. Of course, had she fought to tag along, Chris wouldn't have minded and almost certainly would have given in, because whatever his angel wanted, his angel got. The boys had only been gone for a matter of hours and, already, Chris missed the hell out of his wife and kept checking his pocketed cell phone to see if she had called. Once he and Graham left the cemetery, after spending quality time with what remained of Carly, he planned on calling Stephanie himself to check in, at which point he would take Graham to sightsee and go out for some fun on the town.

Having grown up in Winnipeg, there were plenty of notable spots Chris had hung around regularly as a teen with his friends, places he planned to point out to Graham. He had done so before, back when they had actually lived in Winnipeg, but Graham had been younger then, and with his lack of an attention span, he hadn't retained much of what Chris showed him. This time, Chris thought they could have a more meaningful experience together and return home stronger than ever, so that was the goal he was reaching for. Somehow, even without too many frequent trips to the cemetery, Graham recalled his biological mother's final resting spot, so he led the way.

Chris was thankful for Graham's newfound skill of attentiveness, because it allowed him to follow behind and lose himself in memories of Carly, which was all he had of her anymore. It was all he would _ever_ have, and that was a bitter pill to swallow, but he was coming around to acceptance. A good breeze had kicked up, which made the temperature seem colder than it actually was, and Chris's eyes watered more than a few times when the icy chill hit his pupils. He felt guilty for bringing Graham outdoors in such awful weather, but if they waited for Winnipeg to warm up, they were going to be waiting for a hell of a long time, because there was basically no escaping the bitter cold, regardless of the time of year.

Graham picked up speed when he recognized that he was getting closer, and he broke into a flat-out run on the final bend, leaving his distinct footprints in the snow as he charged straight to the grave that belonged to Carly. He raised his hands victoriously, and even that simple act was enough to bring a smile to Chris's face in a time of such emotional angst. When Chris caught up to Graham, he held out the hand-tied bouquet of white peonies they had brought along, Carly's favorite flower, although she loved them most in pink. Somehow, Chris thought white was more appropriate for the occasion, so he went with his gut.

"I found it, Daddy. I found Mommy Carly's grave!" Graham said, cheering himself on. Chris smiled and rubbed the top of his head, and Graham accepted the bundle of flowers that Chris held out. He placed them on top of the headstone and Chris knelt beside the grave. Graham did the same, mirroring his father's pose, and they sat quietly for a little while, the only interruptions caused by the chirping of birds in the nearby gathering of trees.

"We miss you, Carly, every single day. We love you so much," Chris breathed out into the open air, closing his eyes and inhaling deeply. Graham's hand flitted like a feather onto his shoulder, and Chris covered his son's hand with his own. "Talk to Mommy, pal. You can tell her whatever you want."

"This mommy, or my mommy at home?" Graham wondered.

Chris opened his eyes, finding Graham peering at him inquisitively. In his innocent, childlike way, Graham had fed Chris the answer he needed to hear. He had a mother in a grave in Winnipeg, and he had a mother at home; one who cared for him and helped to mold him into a kindhearted child who would grow into an even more compassionate adult. Carly had carried Graham inside her body for nine months, given birth to him in a local hospital, and cared for him for his first two years of life, but her time had come to a close long ago.

Her untimely death didn't dismiss her entirely as Graham's mother, but life went on, and both Chris and Graham _had_ gone on. The memory of Carly would forever be engrained in their hearts and souls, but Stephanie was their present, and that thought brought Chris to a final conclusion. Stephanie needed to adopt Graham. For nearly two years, even long before Chris and Stephanie had become an official couple, she had wrapped Graham in her loving arms and taken him in as her own.

Stephanie was the one who picked Graham up from school every single day. Stephanie was the person who prepared his meals in Sara's absence. She helped him with his homework, tucked him into bed each night, and kissed him on the forehead before leaving him to fall into sweet dreams. She woke him for school in the mornings, selected his outfits, gave him lunch and dessert money, and even packed his lunch at home, on occasion. She took him shopping, comforted him when he was sick or sad, and that was why Chris could no longer deny that she was, in all facets of life, Graham's mother. Nothing could ever take that away from her.

Back at home, Chris's emotions had blinded him to what Stephanie had actually requested of him the night she brought up adopting Graham. She wasn't asking to shut Carly completely out of Graham's life; instead, she had been asking to step up and take the place of Carly, in her eternal absence. Chris dropped onto his bottom and covered his face with his hands, sighing into his open palms. He hadn't been able to think clearly for the past several days, but, suddenly, being near Carly, all the assorted thoughts in his mind fit together like puzzle pieces, and life made sense again. Carly always _did_ have a way of tugging him back from the brink of madness.

Chris had no doubts that Carly had answered his prayers, his deepest wishes for an answer to be made clear to him. In her own little way, she was letting Chris go and making it clear he had made the right choice and that she wanted him to allow Stephanie to take the place she would never be able to stand in again, at least, not as an earthly being. Chris shook his head softly and chuckled, whispering aloud, "Thank you, Carly. You really came through for me today."

"Daddy?" Graham remained by his side, shaking his shoulder hard. When Chris lowered his hands, he saw the panic in Graham's eyes, and he pulled him into a hug, kissing the top of his head and stroking his back.

"It's okay, kid. I'm just talking to Mommy Carly," Chris said, wanting to differentiate between both mothers, so as not to confuse Graham anymore than he already had. "Did you talk to her yet? You don't have to do it out loud, if you're uncomfortable. If you talk to her in your head, she'll still hear you."

"I talked to her in my head," Graham nodded. He threw his arms around Chris's neck. "You seem sad."

"I just miss Mommy Carly," Chris said. He wanted to delve into the heart of their issue, to share in the excitement of Stephanie taking the most significant step she could in her quest to become Graham's mother. The secret wasn't only his to tell, though, so he refrained, wanting to deliver the news with Stephanie by his side, after they returned home. "When we get back home, Mommy and I are going to have something really big to talk to you about. We're going to need your input."

"What's it about?"

"It's not fair for me to discuss it with you right this second," Chris clarified. "We need Mommy to be with us so we can have the discussion as a family. It's nothing bad, though, so I don't want you to be worried or nervous, okay?"

"Okay," Graham said, watching Carly's headstone intently. "I want to talk to Mommy Carly out loud now."

Chris let out a heaving breath, which somehow morphed into a lazy smile. "Go ahead, pal."

After a long day of catching up and exploring Winnipeg, Graham dropped into bed an exhausted heap, only after following Chris's strict orders to brush his teeth first. Chris lay down with Graham in the king sized bed they would share overnight, running his hand over Graham's smooth locks until he fell into a deep slumber. So as not to disturb him, Chris shut the lamp off and left Graham with a light kiss on the head. He padded in his black ankle socks to the desk and chair provided in the main sitting area of their Gold Suite, lowering into the chair and tugging his cell phone from his jeans pocket.

After selecting his wife's name from his contacts list, Chris kicked his feet up on the desk and leaned back in the rolling chair, aiming the remote at the television and flipping idly through the channels. He was in the process of finding a movie to purchase when her drowsy voice came over the line. She brought an instant smile to his face. "Hi, love. How are things going?"

"Hey there. We're doing good."

"Good. Can I say goodnight to my babycakes?"

"You just missed him. We got back a little late, just a short while ago, so I had him brush his teeth and he went straight to bed. He fell asleep within like two minutes."

"Oh yeah?" Stephanie said, letting out a long yawn. There was some light shuffling on her end of the line, and she sighed lowly.

"You sound about as tired as Graham was just now. Are you and the baby doing okay?"

"Yeah, we're both fine. I just climbed into bed, and it's so cold and lonely here without you. I brought Freddy and Brownie into our bedroom to spend the night with me. I needed them to keep me company," she said, yawning for a second time. "I'm exhausted."

"It sure sounds like it. I'll let you go so you can get some sleep," Chris said. "I just called to say hi and to tell you that I miss you. Graham and I will be heading back tomorrow, and we can't wait to be with you."

"I can't wait to be with you, either," she managed, sleepily tapering off at the end of her statement. Chris sensed she was only minutes away from falling into a peaceful sleep of her own, so he made the decision to call it a night, no matter how badly he wanted the conversation to continue so he could hear her sweet voice.

"All right, angel, I love you, and I'll see you tomorrow. Have a good night, and please tell the baby I love them."

"I will, and I love you, too. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

When Chris and Graham stepped through the front door, Brownie was first in line to greet them. His tail wagged wildly behind him as he hopped on Graham's feet, pawing at his calves, in his own special greeting. Freddy followed a short ways behind, but was more subdued in his approach, doing a full circle around Chris's left ankle and purring softly. Chris let go of the handles on their rolling luggage and took a moment to bend over and pick Freddy up, kissing the top of his head and scratching behind his ears. Graham had dropped to his knees to pat Brownie's back, and that was when a lively Stephanie strolled in, hand resting on the center of her belly.

"There's my boys!" she gushed.

"Mommy!" Graham shouted. He shot to his feet and dashed around Brownie to get to Stephanie, tossing his arms around her waist. Brownie followed and whined at his feet, disappointed over the sudden lack of attention. Graham didn't love his puppy any less, but nobody beat out either of his parents. Stephanie hugged him fiercely and combed her fingers through his straw colored hair.

"I'm so happy to see you! Did you have a good trip?" she asked.

"It was fun, but I missed you the whole time, and so did Daddy. He was really sad without you," Graham said.

"Was he now?" Stephanie answered, smirking at Chris. He placed Freddy down and Graham kindly stepped aside, clearing a path for him. The first move Chris made was to bend over and kiss Stephanie's bulging stomach, then he stood straight up and took her face in his hands, covering her mouth with his own, amidst flustered giggles from Graham. Stephanie's arms snaked around his waist, and she held him tightly, even going so far as to pull him back into their embrace when he first attempted to slip away. When she finally had her fill of his warm and tender kisses, Stephanie scaled back, covering his right cheek with her hand. "Don't ever leave me again. I don't do well without my hubby and my little man."

"I know it must have been hard for you, because it was for us, too, but this trip was an eye-opener," Chris said, meeting her gaze. He kissed the palm of her hand, which was still cupping his cheek, then took her hand in his own gentle grip. "Speaking of the trip, we made it to Carly's grave, and she answered my prayers. I had asked her multiple times to give me a sign so that I could know what the right decision was, and she gave me one as soon as we went to visit her. Can I talk to you here on the couch about it?"

Stephanie bit her bottom lip and glanced nervously behind Chris at Graham, who had taken a seat on the floor to resume playtime with Freddy and Brownie. Each of his pets had found their respective places in his lap and were giving him lots of love. "I don't know. Maybe we should wait. I don't want to upset anybody."

"He won't be upset," Chris said. "I want him in the room for this. You know I wouldn't ever involve him in anything if I didn't feel it was right, but this feels more right than almost anything else I've ever done."

"As long as you think it's a good idea..." she said, peering at Graham tentatively. "I'm so glad you two are back home, right where you belong. I missed you way too much."

"We missed you, too," Chris said. He kissed her cheek and led her to the couch. Once Stephanie was seated, Chris went to Graham and picked Freddy and Brownie up, directing Graham to have a seat beside Stephanie. When Graham was settled, Chris placed their pets back into his lap and stood near the coffee table, clearing his throat openly.

"What happened, Daddy?" Graham wondered.

"I have something very important to talk to you about, Graham. This concerns you and Mommy directly, and I need both of you to hear it at the same time," Chris explained. He ran his fingers through the hair at the base of his neck, questioning whether or not he should have given it an hour or two before diving into such a huge discussion, but the smile already beginning to form on Stephanie's face was enough to push him forward. She knew what was coming, and he could almost see a special gleam in her eyes that had never been there before. "Graham, I know how much Mommy means to you. You like having her as a parent, don't you?"

Graham said nothing, simply wrapped his arms around Stephanie's nearest arm and smiled up at her with a look that was nothing short of pure adoration. She kissed the center of his forehead, and Graham cuddled up to her side. Chris took that as his opportunity to continue. "Mommy loves having you in her life, and she takes her job as your parent very seriously. There's no other little boy in the world as special to her as you are, and she plans to be in your life forever."

"That's right," Stephanie said, raking her fingers lightly through Graham's hair. "I'm always here for you, pumpkin."

"I know that," Graham said, shaking his head a bit, as if her statement was the most obvious one ever made.

Chris knelt in front of Graham and grabbed onto his hands, giving them a good squeeze. He wanted to ease into the subject and be considerate of Graham's feelings, because that was the only way their discussion would end well. He happened to glance at Stephanie and caught her gnawing on her bottom lip, so he kept one hand on Graham's and used the other to grab Stephanie's closest one. "I have something really important to tell you, and I want you to be a big boy and keep an open mind about this, okay?"

"Okay, Daddy," he agreed, not missing a beat.

"So, Mommy and I were talking the other day, and I found out from her that she would like to adopt you." Chris stopped there, wanting to give Graham a moment to process that information. Graham's brows hitched, and his forehead crinkled while he glanced wildly between his parents.

Then, with all the eloquence of a 9-year-old, Graham uttered, "Why?"

Stephanie's face fell, and she stared blankly into her lap. With her pregnancy hormones the way they were, Chris didn't want her to start bawling and scare Graham away, so he rubbed her thigh and continued on. "Well, she wants to adopt you because you would legally become her son. You're already her stepson, because I married her, but Mommy would like to adopt you so that you would become her son in every sense of the word. She would have custodial rights, no matter what happens in the future and...actually, let's not get into all that complicated stuff."

The confusion was clear as Graham squished his lips into a comical pout, almost as if he had tasted something sour. "I don't get it. You said I'm already Mommy's son."

"Maybe we should leave this alone," Stephanie said, already starting to pull away. Chris craned his neck as she stood and advanced toward the next room, but he refused to let her go so easily. Stephanie was a sensitive soul, and her feelings weren't difficult to hurt, so she had to be handled with care. That's basically what she was to Chris — his special little care package that he had to take extra good care of. He hopped up from the floor and jogged after her, catching her wrist as it swung mid-walk. She spun around looking much more tired, as if she had somehow aged rapidly in the time it took to sit Graham down and start their talk. "Please let me go. Just let me go."

"It's okay, honey," Chris said, lowering his voice since he was acutely aware of the little boy still watching them from the couch. He placed his hands on her hips, but Stephanie dropped her head, refusing to make eye contact. "You know how he feels about you. Graham's just very young, and he doesn't understand this. He's not rejecting you or the act of adoption. He's confused."

"Then I don't want to confuse him any longer, so let's drop it. You didn't think it was a good idea at first, and he doesn't either. I wish I had never said anything at all," Stephanie said. She tugged out of Chris's grasp and disappeared around the main staircase. Chris listened to the smack of her bare feet as she followed the hallway all the way down to her conservatory. He could tell that was the room she had entered, because the door clanked shut a moment later, a hollowed echo that reverberated from the end of the hall.

Graham had come up behind Chris with such light feet that he didn't realize he was there until his feeble voice cut through the air. "Is Mommy mad at me?"

"Hey, don't say that," Chris said, dropping onto his right knee. He slipped his arm onto Graham's shoulder and sighed. "Mommy's not mad at all, buddy. She's just very sensitive right now. Remember what I explained to you about the baby and how the pregnancy is going to cause Mommy's moods to change very quickly from one to the next?"

"I remember."

"Good. That's all this is," Chris said. He kissed the top of Graham's head when he stood, and Graham slipped his hand inside Chris's. They embarked on the dim hallway together, planning to get through to Stephanie and bring her back from the brink. Chris tried the door, and when he pushed it open, a low creak emanating from the hinges, his eyes narrowed as he stared into...emptiness. His wife was nowhere to be found. "Steph?" He heard nothing, so he tried again. "Baby?"

"I messed everything up by even suggesting adoption," she spat out. Chris stepped further into the room and caught sight of her near the far right corner, sitting on the floor and wiping from her cheeks what he could only assume to be tears. Her back was pressed against the wall, and her knees were drawn up, but not all the way to her chin, since her large belly wouldn't allow for such a position. She whimpered and covered her face, speaking through her hands. "This day is ruined, and it's all my fault. You guys just got back from your trip, and I'm supposed to be welcoming you back and making your day better, but all I'm doing is making it worse. I never wanted to cause trouble."

Chris opened his mouth to speak, but he was stopped in the middle of his thought when Graham let go of his hand and dashed over to Stephanie. He climbed into her lap and grabbed onto her wrists, gently tugging her hands away from her face. Before Chris could reach them, he was stopped in his tracks, impressed by his son's natural inclination to ease the pain of others. Graham began wiping Stephanie's tears away with his fingers. "Don't cry, Mommy. I'll be better next time."

Even though Chris had initially considered interjecting, Graham and Stephanie probably needed to talk amongst themselves, so he stood off to the side, watching over them. Stephanie shook her head, replying, "This isn't your fault, honey. It's not anybody's fault. I'm just really emotional, and it has nothing to do with you. You're such a good little boy, and you make me proud every single day. You don't need to be any better than you already are."

"Then why are you crying?" Graham asked, continuing to wipe away her tears. When a new flood rolled in, he frowned and scolded her lightly. "Stop it."

She cracked a smile at that, laughing softly through the pain. "I'm sorry, but I really can't help it."

"Why are you sad?"

"I'm not."

"Uh-huh, you are, or else you wouldn't cry," Graham pointed out.

"It's just one of those days, I think," she sighed, wiping at her own face and regaining her composure. Graham watched her closely, and she rubbed his hair down, kissing his forehead. "I'm sorry if I upset you. I didn't mean to, if I did, but thanks for looking out for me. Mommy's all better now."

"Why do you want to adopt me?" Graham blurted out. Chris immediately cringed, thinking that was the worst possible subject Graham could have reintroduced to the conversation, but he was surprised to find that his assumptions were incorrect. "Why do we have to do that, if I'm already yours?"

Stephanie ran her hand over his back, sniffling and wiping at her nose with the back of her other hand. "You're already my son, just like Daddy and I talked to you about, but I wanted to adopt you because it would make me your mother in a little more of the legal sense. You're already mine, but an adoption would seal the deal for good."

"Why?"

"Because it would give me custodial rights over you that I don't currently have as your stepparent," she explained. "It would ensure that no matter what happens, you and I can always spend time together and be each other's family, and that's why I wanted it, but I don't want you to feel pressured. I want you to choose whatever makes you happy, and if you're not okay with this potential arrangement, that's fine. I'll pick up the pieces and we'll move on as a family."

"So, if you adopt me, I could be with you forever?" Graham asked, fiddling with the jewel on Stephanie's necklace.

"You could, yes," Stephanie answered, sniffling loudly for a second time. Chris had shoved his hands into his pockets and was leaning against the sofa, watching them with a lazy smile. She rubbed Graham's hair some more. "I guess you'll be with me forever, anyway, since I won't let you go. I refuse to let you slip away."

"I won't go anywhere ever, Mommy. You're bein' silly," Graham said, hugging her around the neck and laughing into her shirt. His laughter was contagious, and she found herself giggling as well, shaking against his smaller frame.

"Oh, Graham," she sighed into his hair, holding him tightly. "What would I ever do without you?"

"I dunno," he replied, making both Stephanie _and_ Chris laugh. When they pulled out of their embrace, a new wave of determination glittered in Graham's crystal blue eyes. His next words showed the extent to which he was wise beyond his years. "I want you to adopt me. I wouldn't stop bein' your son no matter what, but I think you're scared I'll leave, so you should adopt me, and that way, you won't have to be scared anymore. If you adopted me, it would remind you that I'm your son forever. Plus, I want you to adopt me anyways, 'cause I love you."

"I love you, too, honeybee," she replied. Graham kissed Stephanie's cheek, and just that quickly, he was out the door, running after Brownie, who had been yapping for him in the hallway. Stephanie wiped the last of the tears from her cheeks and smiled at Chris, rolling her eyes over her rather embarrassing outburst. "I don't know what my deal is, but I'm so sorry to do that in front of him, Chris. I didn't know he had come in here with you and, if I had, I never would have let him see me like that. I don't want to worry him."

"You don't have to apologize," Chris said. He kicked his shoes off and strolled over in his socks, taking a seat beside Stephanie on the floor. He wrapped his arms around her midsection, hugging her to his body, and Stephanie buried her face in the side of his neck. Eventually, Chris slid his hand down far enough to rub her stomach. "This is all just hormones, Steph. You haven't cried this much in all the time I've known you, so I know your emotions right now are just a product of this pregnancy. It's okay if you need to let that out. I understand."

"I'm not so sure _I_ understand it, but thank you for always supporting me. I really needed to hear that."

"You don't have to thank me. This is just what a husband does," Chris said, pressing his nose into her hair and breathing in the subtle scent of her shampoo. "Can you believe all of the amazing things Graham said to you just now? Out of the mouths of babes, huh?"

"He's so sweet. I know he said I could adopt him, but maybe I should slow down and think it through so that I can make a decision that's best for everyone. This doesn't only involve me, so I want to give our family some more time to turn it over in our minds. Does that sound okay?"

"That sounds just fine. Be happy, okay?" Chris requested, running his fingers through her soft hair. "You have a husband and son who love you like you wouldn't believe, and we're finally all back together after an extended time apart, so just try to be happy."

"I don't have to try," she replied, cupping Chris's cheek. "You and Graham have already made my day."


End file.
